Military News Today

Foreign Office minister Leo Docherty has said – private conversations of high profile politicians and civil servants have been compromised by Russia’s FSB during ‘sustained’ attempts to interfere with the UK political process, a Foreign Office minister has said.

Leo Docherty said a cyber influence campaign by a group known as Star Blizzard, believed to be controlled by the Centre 18 Unit of the FSB had selectively leaked and amplified information’ since 2015.

The Foreign Office has summoned the Russian Ambassador to the UK and two members of the ‘Star Blizzard Group’ have been sanctioned.

Mr Docherty, not naming any of the individuals targeted said the group had conducted an exercise known as spear-phishing to steal information from a ‘significant’ number of parliamentarians from multiple political parties.

Mr Docherty said in a statement to the Commons “I can confirm today that the Russian Federal Security Services, the FSB, is behind a sustained effort to interfere in our democratic processes.

“They have targeted members of this House and the (House of Lords). They have been targeting civil servants, journalists and NGOs (non-governmental organisations).

“They have been targeting high-profile individuals and entities with a clear intent – using information they obtain to meddle in British politics.”

MPs, Lords, civil servants, journalists and others have been targeted in attempts to “meddle in British politics”, Mr Docherty told MPs.