Are Russian Spies Forcing Mi5 To Divert Resources Against Terrorism?
Russian spies are still so active in Britain that valuable resources are being diverted from combating terrorists, according to MI5’s chief Jonathan Evans. Speaking at a high-level briefing in London, Evans said security services are already stretched dealing with the Jihadi threat. And Moscow’s aggressive operations just add further strain. About $24 million of MI5’s budget has been re-directed to defend the U.K. against espionage attempts by Russia, China and others, meaning our British allies can’t contribute as much to the fight against international terrorism. MI5 estimates at least 30 Russian intelligence officers — let’s just go ahead and call them spies — are working in London out of the Russian embassy in Kensington. Since the Cold War, Moscow has failed to reduce the number of spies operating in the U.K. Both the SVR, (the new name for the overseas operations of the old KGB), and the GRU, military intelligence contributes to the spy contingent based in the U.K. Controlled by
