Suspected Russian agents ‘slip into UK on cargo ships’ | UK | News
Two suspected Russian intelligence agents are thought to have entered the UK on ordinary cargo ships before heading to locations close to military bases and key infrastructure, The i Paper reported.
The pair are said to have arrived from the ports of Torquay, Middlesbrough and Grangemouth earlier this year. A UK defense source has claimed men linked to Vladimir Putin’s military and intelligence networks managed to reach Britain undetected by using commercial shipping routes rather than more tightly monitored entry points.
Experts believe Agents chose ports to take advantage of “less stringent” border controls.
The cargo ship used was neither Russian-flagged nor was it among the Kremlin’s “shadow fleet” of sanctioned ships. This secret network often masks ownership and cargo types to transport restricted goods.
Russia accused of turning shipping lanes into a secret battlefield
Western security experts warn that Moscow is increasingly using Europe’s shipping routes for gray zone operations, disguising surveillance and drone activities behind what appear to be ordinary commercial ships.
According to The i Paper, a senior NATO official tasked with protecting Europe’s maritime corridors said intelligence services had detected Russian agents navigating unsuspecting cargo ships.
The Russians “dominate” parts of the maritime industry, creating an “ideal” environment for covert action, the official said.
A NATO source told the paper: “It would be the most natural place in this world to move people and we think that’s continuing.
“They don’t sail shadow fleet tankers, they sail them all [types of] ships.”
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there has been a sharp increase in activity by Russian agents monitoring and “testing” European ports to “find weaknesses”, the official added.
Operators seen near military training areas and fuel fields
A suspected spy previously observed near secure military locations in the UK reportedly arrived in Torquay from Finland before visiting sites near the Lulworth Firing Range, which British forces use to train Ukrainian soldiers.
Previously Moscow and St. A second man, identified at intelligence-related facilities in St. Petersburg, is said to have set out from Kaliningrad and docked at Middlesbrough and Grangemouth before heading to major fuel infrastructure.
Elizabeth Braw, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the port system provides a glaring loophole for hostile state agents.
Ms Braw said: “It doesn’t surprise me that Russia wants to bring certain people into the country, even though it can reach people who are already there.
“They need their own agents to carry out such activities.”
He explained that such missions are normally carried out by Russian intelligence personnel sent on diplomatic missions in the UK, but noted that there were “very few officers in the country” after Britain expelled 24 Russian officials.
More than 2,900 people have been sanctioned by the UK Government since the start of the Ukraine war.
