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The UK has sanctioned three Russian military intelligence units and 18 officers from the GRU espionage agency for orchestrating a "sustained campaign of malicious cyber activity," the Foreign Office announced today. The measures target alleged efforts to "spread chaos and disorder" under Russian President Vladimir Putin's direction.Foreign Secretary David Lammy linked the cyber operations to the UK's support for Ukraine, accusing Russian spies of attempting to "destabilise Europe." The sanctioned units include Unit 26165, implicated in the deadly 2022 strike on Mariupol’s theatre, which killed hundreds of civilians. Additionally, officers who placed spyware on the phone of Yulia Skripal, poisoned alongside her father in the 2018 Salisbury Novichok attack, were targeted. The Foreign Office stated that Russian cyber campaigns have hit UK media, telecoms, energy infrastructure, and political institutions. "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. In parallel, the European Union introduced its toughest sanctions yet on Russia, including a transaction ban on the Nord Stream pipeline and a lowered price cap on Russian oil. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the measures "essential and timely." The UK joined the oil price cap reduction, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves stating it would further strain Russia’s war funding. Despite the sanctions, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev claimed Moscow’s economy would endure, vowing to intensify strikes on Ukraine. Russia has previously denied interfering in foreign democratic systems or economies. The sanctions, part of the EU’s 18th round since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, aim to curb Moscow’s war financing, though Russia’s oil exports to China and India and its shadow fleet of tankers have so far mitigated Western efforts. The UK also sanctioned three leaders of the "African Initiative," a Russian-backed social media campaign accused of spreading disinformation in West Africa. Sanctioned individuals and entities face asset freezes and other restrictions. The BBC has contacted the Russian embassy for comment.
