There is evidence of the continuing ‘spy war’ between Russia and the Western allies, and efforts to crack down on potential recruitment networks. British police announced Thursday the arrest of three people on suspicion of spying for Russia, including a 41-year-old man, 46-year-old man and 35-year-old woman, in the county of Essex, northeast of London.
International media reports are highlighting that it comes just as President Trump is visiting the Royal Family: “The arrests also coincide with US President Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK, a NATO ally, during which the topic of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine is expected to be one of the top agenda items in bilateral talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer,” Newsweek reports. “NATO allies have sounded the alarm over a rising number of Russian intelligence plots to carry out acts of sabotage inside their countries – some of which have been successful – as Moscow and the West clash over the war in Ukraine,” the publication adds.
Metropolitan Police Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Counter Terrorism Command, described to the press: “Through our recent national security casework, we’re seeing an increasing number of who we would describe as ‘proxies’ being recruited by foreign intelligence services.”
As is typical with British authorities very little information has been given on the case. What was disclosed is that the three were detained as part of a counter terrorist investigation into suspected National Security Act offenses.
And yet what investigators have on them can’t be too bad or damaging, given media reports say they’ve already been released on conditional bail, pending further investigation. Two locations in Essex were searched by police.
The past couple years of war in Ukraine has been accompanied by ‘sabotage acts’ and mystery arson incidents across Europe, and also inside Russia. Many observers have said these incidents are part of a broadening covert shadow war targeting each side’s industrial and military production infrastructure.
For example, citing British police in this latest alleged spy arrest, CNN notes that “Murphy cited a recent arson attack at a warehouse run by a Ukrainian man in Leyton – a town in east London – carried out by proxies on behalf of Russia’s Wagner Group, as an example of this. However, he stressed that Thursday’s arrests were not connected to that investigation.”
Various European police and intelligence services have lately been warning their populations of Russian attempts to recruit so-called “disposable agents” through social media for espionage and sabotage.
Earlier this month, for example, German police and intelligence services allege these operations often involve untrained individuals committing acts like arson, property damage, or photographing or monitoring sensitive installations.
The King and Queen hosted President and Mrs Trump at St. George’s Hall tonight for a state banquet. 🇬🇧🇺🇸
The high point of the US State Visit to Britain saw speeches made by both His Majesty the King and President Trump, in celebration of the #specialrelationship. pic.twitter.com/Jl3235aQph
— royal courtier (@CourtierRoyal) September 17, 2025
People are at first unwittingly recruited through online forums and popular social media sites, and as conversations proceed, targeted individuals are offered sums of money in return for carrying out criminal acts.
Telegram is one specific platform named by European authorities as being used by Russian intelligence to recruit unwitting actors. Interestingly, it was of course Telegram which lately came under suspicion and a far-reaching crackdown by French authorities, especially during last year’s Pavel Durov arrest saga.
However, it’s anything but certain whether the small group that Britain has rounded up are in fact spies, given in the past citizens of various countries have come under suspicion for having any links whatsoever to Russia or Russian citizens. It could just be timed to make a splash in the headlines amid Trump’s state visit.
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