Russia Accuses British Diplomats of Spying

A very public and contentious dispute over allegations of espionage has broken out between Russia and Britain. The FSB, Russia's state security arm, has accused British diplomats of using an NGO (non-governmental organization) as a cover for spy operations.

Russian television aired the allegations in a special program featuring anonymous FSB intelligence officials and video footage of a British official allegedly in the act of transferring classified data. A centerpiece of the Russian broadcast was footage of a decoy “rock,” which secretly served as a device for transmitting sensitive data. (Pictures of the “rock” in question are shown above.) In the parlance of the intelligence community, this is a classic example of what is called a “dead drop” device. Such devices have long been used to exchange sensitive information. The “rock” in question is a more sophisticated version of “dead drop” devices used in the past.

The scandal involves several British citizens and one Russian citizen. According to the BBC, the Russian television program:

…said four officials from the UK embassy and one Russian citizen, allegedly recruited by the British secret service, downloaded classified data from a transmitter in the rock onto palm-top computers.

The UK four were named in the programme as Christopher Pirt, Marc Doe, Paul Crompton and Andrew Fleming.

According to the programme, the Russian citizen was later arrested.

Hidden camera footage appears to show individuals walking up to the rock. One man is caught on camera carrying it away.

There was no word on what precise data was allegedly stolen, but the allegations have generated a buzz throughout Britain. The Moscow Helsinki Group, the NGO in question, has denied the allegations and has charged Putin and the powers that be of using the allegations as a pretext for cracking down on NGO’s.

The allegations are not all that surprising. Russia itself remains very active in the espionage game (what would you expect from a nation run by officials formerly in charge of the Soviet Union’s spy arm?). And Mother Russia also remains a hub for foreign espionage efforts.

Nevertheless, it is interesting that Putin & Co. would air these allegations now – just as the former KGB spymaster expands his power over the NGO’s. He has already started to close thousands of them down and these allegations fit neatly into his arguments for why such measures are necessary.

(For more coverage on this breaking espionage scandal see here.)