SS News Desk
20 July, 2025:
In a bold move to protect national security and counter Russia’s global destabilization efforts, the UK has sanctioned three Russian GRU military intelligence units and 18 officers involved in espionage and cyber operations. The sanctions, announced by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, target those at the heart of what he described as Vladimir Putin’s “malicious regime.”
The individuals and units sanctioned are linked to a broad campaign of cyberattacks, disinformation, and violent operations across Europe and beyond. Among them is Unit 26165, exposed for conducting online reconnaissance in support of missile strikes on Ukraine’s Mariupol Theatre in 2022 — an attack that killed hundreds of civilians, including children. The same unit was also behind the 2018 hacking of Yulia Skripal’s device with X-Agent malware, five years before the attempted Novichok nerve agent poisoning of her and her father, Sergei Skripal, in Salisbury.
Russia’s GRU has also targeted UK media, telecoms, democratic institutions, and critical energy infrastructure. These hybrid threats, according to Lammy, aim to destabilize Europe and threaten British lives. “The Kremlin should be in no doubt: we see what they are trying to do in the shadows and we won’t tolerate it,” Lammy said.
The UK’s response includes increased cooperation with allies across NATO, the EU, and the FBI. A new UK-EU Security and Defence Partnership will strengthen this alignment. Meanwhile, Britain has committed to raising defence spending to 2.6% of GDP by 2027, the largest sustained increase since the Cold War.
Additionally, the UK sanctioned three Russian intelligence-linked individuals from the so-called “African Initiative” for spreading disinformation in West Africa, including false claims undermining global health efforts.
The UK government vows to continue exposing and countering Kremlin-backed threats wherever they arise.
Source: UK High Commission, Dhaka
