UK Sanctions Russian Spies ‘At the Heart of Putin’s Malicious Regime’ in Major Cyber Crackdown

Britain on Friday imposed a sweeping set of sanctions on more than 20 Russian military intelligence officers, hackers, and GRU units, accusing them of running a long-term campaign of cyberattacks threatening UK national security.

The sanctions target three units of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency and 18 individual officers.

Officials, cited in the UK government’s official announcement, said those named were involved in malign activity, including cyberattacks on UK infrastructure, operations against Ukraine, and historic attempts to harm British citizens.

“GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilize Europe, undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty, and threaten the safety of British citizens,” said Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

Among those sanctioned is Unit 26165, which the UK said helped direct missile strikes during the siege of Mariupol in 2022, including the bombing of the Mariupol Drama Theatre, where hundreds of civilians, many of them children, were killed while sheltering.

The UK also cited evidence that GRU officers had planted malware on Yulia Skripal’s electronic devices years before the 2018 Novichok nerve agent attack on her and her father, former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, in Salisbury – a failed assassination attempt that shocked the world.

British officials say the GRU routinely uses cyber operations to cause chaos, division, and real-world destruction – targeting everything from critical energy infrastructure and democratic institutions to media outlets and telecoms providers.

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“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. “That’s why we’re taking decisive action with sanctions against Russian spies. Protecting the UK from harm is fundamental to this government’s Plan for Change.”

The UK said the campaign of hybrid threats, including cyberattacks and disinformation, has been used in direct support of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

One cited case was Russia’s disruption of Viasat satellite communications on the eve of its full-scale invasion in 2022, an operation designed to weaken Ukraine’s defenses.

Sanctions also extended beyond Europe. Britain blacklisted three leaders of “African Initiative,” a Russian-funded social media operation allegedly used to spread conspiracy theories and undermine trust in global health programs in West Africa.

“Putin’s hybrid threats and aggression will never break our resolve,” Lammy said. “The UK and our allies’ support for Ukraine and Europe’s security is ironclad.”