UK formally declares Russia a ‘national security threat’ over Salisbury poisonings, espionage & Ukraine invasion

For the first time, the United Kingdom has declared Russia has a ’national security threat'.

As per the designation, all those working for Russian interests have to register themselves as Russian agents under the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (Firs) or face up to five years in jail, according to British Security Minister Dan Jarvis.

The development comes at a time when Russia has plunged Europe into the worst security crises since the World War II with the invasion of Ukraine and the shadow war on the continent. It has been accused of spying, assassinations, political interference, and sabotage of critical infrastructure across the continent.

Just last month, six Bulgarian nationals living in the UK were convicted of being Russian spies. They were part of a group that spied on a journalist, a former politician, and a US military base in Germany for Russia between 2020 and 2023.

Before Russia’s designation, only Iran had been designated as such a national security threat. There are calls to add China as well to the list.

Since the Salisbury poisoning in 2018, the UK has expelled more than 20 Russian spies, including diplomats found to be spying in th UK.

After Russia’s designation, British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that the new powers under Firs allow the government “to take much stronger action” and make it harder for Russia to conduct hostile acts against the UK.

In 2018, Russian operatives tried to kill former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal in England’s Salisbury with nerve agent Novichok. The episode brought to fore the transnational campaign that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had been waging against his critics and defectors of the regime. Previously, in 2006, a former Russian intelligence operative, Alexander Litvinenko, was similarly targeted. Unlike the Skripals, he did not survive. It has been believed that his killing was ordered by top Russian officials, possibly by Putin himself.

Litvinenko is one of the many critics of Putin whose deaths have been attributed to his systemic repression. Among the latest of such deaths is that of Russian Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died under suspicious circumstances in a Russian penal colony in February 2024. He had previously survived Novichok poisoning in 2020 that was also attributed to Putin’s regime.