{ "id": "0c52c642-be89-4245-8b42-7d9e23b18e91", "created_at": "2026-04-06T00:12:15.384219Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T13:12:22.113869Z", "deleted_at": null, "sha1_hash": "540a7322f7a110d9357ec131ebad30bafbf0c206", "title": "UK sanctions Russian spies at the heart of Putin’s malicious regime", "llm_title": "", "authors": "", "file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_size": 50190, "plain_text": "UK sanctions Russian spies at the heart of Putin’s malicious regime\r\nBy Foreign, Commonwealth \u0026 Development Office\r\nPublished: 2025-07-17 · Archived: 2026-04-05 12:56:06 UTC\r\nUK exposes and sanctions three GRU units and 18 of their military intelligence officers, responsible for\r\nspreading chaos and disorder on Putin’s orders   \r\nGRU units exposed for their involvement in the bombing of the Mariupol Theatre, the targeting of Yulia\r\nSkripal and cyber operations in support of Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine \r\naction by UK and allies comes amid global threat posed by Russian malign activity\r\nRussian spies and hackers targeting the UK and others are today exposed and sanctioned in decisive action by the\r\nUK Government to deliver security for working people. \r\nToday’s measures target three units of the Russian military intelligence agency (GRU) and 18 military intelligence\r\nofficers who are responsible for conducting a sustained campaign of malicious cyber activity over many years,\r\nincluding in the UK. \r\nThe GRU routinely uses cyber and information operations to sow chaos, division and disorder in Ukraine and\r\nacross the world with devastating real-world consequences.  \r\nIn 2022, Unit 26165, sanctioned today, conducted online reconnaissance to help target missile strikes against\r\nMariupol – including the strike that destroyed the Mariupol Theatre where hundreds of civilians, including\r\nchildren, were murdered. \r\nToday’s action also hits GRU military intelligence officers responsible for historically targeting Yulia Skripal’s\r\ndevice with malicious malware known as X-Agent – five years before GRU military intelligence officers’ failed\r\nattempt to murder Yulia and Sergei Skripal with the deadly Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury.  \r\nIn the UK, Russia has targeted media outlets, telecoms providers, political and democratic institutions, and energy\r\ninfrastructure. The United Kingdom and our international allies are watching Russia and are countering their\r\nattacks both publicly and behind the scenes. \r\nForeign Secretary, David Lammy said:    \r\nGRU spies are running a campaign to destabilise Europe, undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and threaten\r\nthe safety of British citizens.  \r\nThe Kremlin should be in no doubt: we see what they are trying to do in the shadows and we won’t\r\ntolerate it. That’s why we’re taking decisive action with sanctions against Russian spies. Protecting the\r\nUK from harm is fundamental to this government’s Plan for Change. \r\nhttps://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-sanctions-russian-spies-at-the-heart-of-putins-malicious-regime\r\nPage 1 of 3\n\nPutin’s hybrid threats and aggression will never break our resolve. The UK and our Allies support for\r\nUkraine and Europe’s security is ironclad.\r\nThe UK government is committed to accelerating its efforts to counter hybrid threats at home, protecting the UK’s\r\nnational security – a key foundation of the Plan for Change – and abroad, working in collaboration with a growing\r\ninternational coalition including all 32 NATO Allies, the EU and its member states, and our partners in the FBI. \r\nThat is why the UK has announced the biggest sustained increase in defence spending - rising to 2.6% of GDP\r\nfrom 2027 - since the Cold War, and as highlighted in the National Security Review, the UK is stepping up our\r\nfocus on tackling hybrid and technology enabled threats. The new UK-EU Security and Defence Partnership will\r\nsupport this, enabling closer cooperation across a wide range of areas. \r\nThe Kremlin has also used cyber operations in support of Putin’s illegal war – including targeting critical\r\ninfrastructure like Viasat satellite communications. Some of these attacks were conducted on the eve of the full-scale invasion in 2022 with the express purpose of degrading Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.   \r\nRussia’s insidious activity stretches far beyond Europe. In addition to the GRU Units and officers, the UK is also\r\nsanctioning three leaders of “African Initiative”, a social media content mill established and funded by Russia and\r\nemploying Russian intelligence officers to conduct information operations in West Africa. This includes reckless\r\nattempts to undermine lifesaving global health initiatives in the region by pushing baseless conspiracy theories to\r\nfurther the Kremlin’s political agenda. \r\nBackground \r\nThe Foreign Secretary laid out how the UK is stepping up our approach to combatting Russian hybrid threats in\r\nhis Mansion House speech. Read more here.\r\nSee this factsheet for further information: GRU Cyber and Hybrid Threat Operations\r\nNorth Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) NAC statement: Statement of Condemnation by the North Atlantic\r\nCouncil (NAC) concerning Russian Malicious Cyber Activities \r\nEU HR / VP Statement on behalf of the European Union Member States: Hybrid threat / Russia: Statement by the\r\nHigh Representative on behalf of the EU condemning Russia’s persistent hybrid campaigns against the EU, its\r\nMember States and partners\r\nHybrid Threats activity refers to overt or covert actions by foreign governments which fall short of direct armed\r\nconflict with the UK but cause harm or threaten the safety or interests of the UK or our allies.\r\nExamples of this include: \r\nCyber attacks (e.g. hacking government systems or stealing trade secrets) \r\nDisinformation (e.g. spreading false or misleading information online) \r\nSabotage (e.g. damaging infrastructure or supply chains) \r\nPolitical interference (e.g. influencing elections or public opinion) \r\nhttps://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-sanctions-russian-spies-at-the-heart-of-putins-malicious-regime\r\nPage 2 of 3\n\nMore information on the Salisbury Poisonings and the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry can be found here: The\r\nDawn Sturgess Inquiry – Inquiry into 2018 Salisbury poisonings \r\nBelow is a full list of those sanctioned today: \r\nAleksandr Vladimirovich OSADCHUK   \r\nAnatoliy Sergeyvich KOVALEV \r\nArtem Valeryvich OCHICHENKO \r\nThe 161st Specialist Training Centre (TsPS) (Unit 29155) of the GRU \r\nVladislav Yevgenyevich BOROVKOV \r\nNikolay Aleksandrovich KORCHAGIN \r\nYuriy Federovich DENISOV \r\nVitaly Aleksandrovich SHEVCHENKO \r\nIvan Sergeyevich YERMAKOV \r\nAleksey Viktorovich LUKASHEV \r\nSergey Sergeyevich VASYUK \r\nAndrey Eduardovich BARANOV \r\nSergey Aleksandrovich MORGACHEV \r\nArtem Adreyevich MALYSHEV \r\nYuriy Leonidovich SHIKOLENKO \r\nVictor Borisovich NETYKSHO \r\nDmitriy Aleksandrovich MIKHAYLOV \r\nAfrican Initiative \r\nArtyom Sergeevich KUREYEV \r\nAnna Sergeevna ZAMARAEVA \r\nVictor Aleksandrovich LUKOVENKO  \r\nIn addition, we have brought new evidence to light on the following existing designations: \r\nThe Main Centre for Special Technologies (GTsST) (Unit 74455) of the Russian GRU \r\nThe 85th Main Special Services Centre (GTsSS) (Unit 26165) of the Russian GRU\r\nYevgeniy Mikhaylovich SEREBRIAKOV\r\nAleksey Sergeyevich MORENETS \r\nSource: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-sanctions-russian-spies-at-the-heart-of-putins-malicious-regime\r\nhttps://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-sanctions-russian-spies-at-the-heart-of-putins-malicious-regime\r\nPage 3 of 3", "extraction_quality": 1, "language": "EN", "sources": [ "ETDA" ], "origins": [ "web" ], "references": [ "https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-sanctions-russian-spies-at-the-heart-of-putins-malicious-regime" ], "report_names": [ "uk-sanctions-russian-spies-at-the-heart-of-putins-malicious-regime" ], "threat_actors": [], "ts_created_at": 1775434335, "ts_updated_at": 1775826742, "ts_creation_date": 0, "ts_modification_date": 0, "files": { "pdf": "https://archive.orkl.eu/540a7322f7a110d9357ec131ebad30bafbf0c206.pdf", "text": "https://archive.orkl.eu/540a7322f7a110d9357ec131ebad30bafbf0c206.txt", "img": "https://archive.orkl.eu/540a7322f7a110d9357ec131ebad30bafbf0c206.jpg" } }