UK sanctions Russian spies over cyber warfare operations
One of the sanctioned GRU units carried out online reconnaissance to help target missile strikes against Mariupol in Ukraine, enabling a 2022 attack that destroyed a theater in the city killing hundreds of civilians, the Foreign Office said in a statement.
Russia's military intelligence officers also targeted the device of Yulia Skripal, the daughter of former spy Sergei Skripal who Russian agents tried to kill in the U.K. in 2018, according to the statement. That operation involved using malware known as X-Agent five years before the assassination attempt, it said.
'GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilize Europe, undermine Ukraine's sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens,' Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in the statement. The U.K. government said it was stepping up efforts with NATO allies and the FBI to expose malign activity by Russia.
Other GRU officers named by Britain used cyber attacks to target Ukrainian critical infrastructure including its satellite communications, the foreign office said.
The U.K. also said it was sanctioning the 'African Initiative,' which it said was a content mill established and funded by Russia and employing Russian intelligence officers to conduct misinformation operations in West Africa, including pushing conspiracy theories and undermining global health initiatives.
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