Tycoon warns Putin agents are in UK and ‘ready to attack again’ | World | News
Vladimir Putin’s first tool to attack the UK is the GRU, which was behind the Salisbury poisonings (Image: Getty)
Vladimir Putin’s agents are in the UK and ready to carry out attacks, a Russian tycoon has warned. Putin critic, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, said the Russian President would strike Britain with any means available as Moscow views the country as its main enemy in Europe.
The exiled Russian businessman suggested Ukraine‘s European allies are targets for a hybrid attack from Russia, warning covert action is already taking place inside the UK. Mr Khodorkovsky said the first tool at Putin‘s disposal is the Kremlin’s GRU military intelligence service.
Agents from the GRU attempted to assassinate former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 2018 with the nerve agent, novichok.
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They poisoned Mr Skripal and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, but both survived. However, mum-of-three Dawn Sturgess died in the wake of the attempt.
Mr Khodorkovsky said a second option for Putin to attack Britain involves a network of agents, including members of the Federal Security Service (FSB), a successor to the Soviet Union’s KGB.
A third option identified by Mr Khodorkovsky in an interview with The Sun, is to use British criminals.
He said this is the cheapest and weakest option, but it can be quite successful, adding it is still being used in the UK.
In October, two men, Dylan Earl and Jake Reeves, were jailed for a combined 29 years for organising an arson attack on a Ukrainian owned business in east London.
They became the first people prosecuted under the National Security Act 2023 after about £1million worth of damage was caused when two units were set on fire in Leyton on March 20, 2024.
Earl was in contact with Russia’s Wagner Group ahead of the arson attack. He and Reeves recruited three men, Nii Mensah, Jakeem Rose and Ugnius Asmena, to carry out the attack.
There was also a plan to firebomb a restaurant in Mayfair and kidnap its owner, the Russian dissident Evgeny Chichvarkin.
Mr Khodorkovsky said Britain needs to prepare for further attacks and laughed at the idea Putin could be ousted by members of his own elite.
He was speaking before Ukraine launched one of its largest drone strikes on Russia, in which four people were killed.
Russia’s defence ministry said 556 drones were destroyed overnight while Ukraine’s air force said 287 drones were launched by the Russian side overnight into Sunday (May 17).
