UK police detain three alleged Russian spies

London police have arrested three people on suspicion of espionage in favour of Russia. They have been taken to a London police station and detained under the National Security Act.

As reported by Sky News, two men and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of assisting Russian intelligence services as part of a counter-terror investigation.

A 41-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman were arrested at an address in Grays, Essex, and a 46-year-old man was arrested at another location in the Grays area.

Officers searched the two addresses in Essex. All three suspects have now been released on conditional bail.

"Through our recent national security casework, we’re seeing an increasing number of who we would describe as ‘proxies’ being recruited by foreign intelligence services," said Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of the counter-terrorism team at the London Metropolitan Police

In August 2025, a 63-year-old Estonian-Russian citizen Erna Moiseeva, who cooperated with the Federal Security Service of Russia, received a three-year prison sentence for intelligence activities and breaching sanctions.

In March, the Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office referred to court a case against two nationals of different countries accused of spying for Belarus.