British children recruited by Russia and Iran to spy against their own country and research potential targets
The kid spooks are said to be carrying out research and conducting reconnaissance on potential targets after being recruited online by the two hostile states.
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Several schoolchildren, in their mid-teens, have been arrested for allegedly gathering intelligence to be used against the UK, it emerged.
And more children of the same age are being investigated for clandestine activities on behalf of the hostile states.
They are being recruited through online forums and then lured into working for anonymous Russian and Iranian spymasters offering financial inducements.
The UK's Counter Terrorism Policing Senior Coordinator Vicki Evans said: 'Children and young people are vulnerable to this type of hostile activity,' adding; "It is a huge concern for us.'
Met deputy assistant commissioner Ms Evans urged parents and carers to be 'vigilant and careful.'
Ms Evans revealed how the threat from hostile states to the UK is now five times greater than at the time of Russia's 2018 Novichok nerve agent attack in Salisbury.
The threat from Russia, China and Iran accounts for more than a fifth of the counter terror policing network's caseload in the UK, she said.
Criminals are increasingly being used by hostile states to spy against Britain by proxy after being recruited online and promised cash which rarely materialises.
Ms Evans said the use of low level criminals was 'an increasing theme' on how hostile states are working, adding the proxies and assets were 'quite disposable' once they had served their use.
The C-T policing boss said international frictions and the two wars in Ukraine and the Middle East were fuelling aggressive intelligence operations in the UK and elsewhere.
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They include arson attacks, assassinations plots and threats to journalists.
Five men are facing long sentences over an arson attack on an East London warehouse storing satellite equipment for Ukraine which was ordered by the Russian Wagner group.
And six Bulgarians were jailed for a total of more than 50 years at the Old Bailey in May this year for spying for Putin.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met's SO15 counter-terrorism command, said he was surprised 'by the breadth and complexity of these operations…'
Cdr Murphy added: 'We are increasingly seeing threats to life and our way of life.'
He urged any criminals approached by spymasters online to get in touch with police.
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