Russia identifies, warns university teachers over British Council ‘collaboration’
FSB claims the British Council, closed in Russia since 2018, is a front for developing agents of influence
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) accused British intelligence on Thursday of using the British Council as cover to undermine Russia and said it had identified teachers at leading universities who cooperated with the London charity.
With the war in Ukraine intensifying more than three years since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into the country and amid a tentative rapprochement between Moscow and Washington, Britain is now considered “enemy number one” by Russian officials.
The British Council, which calls itself “the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities”, said in 2018 that it had been told to cease operations in Russia.
The British Council said that it was disappointed with what it cast as a Russian “ban on all collaboration with the British Council” and said allegations it was involved in espionage were false. British intelligence could not be reached for comment.
The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB and one of the most powerful organisations in Russia, said that it had identified teaching staff from leading universities in four Russian regions who had cooperated with the British Council.
The FSB said the British Council was used by British intelligence for attempts to erase Russian identity and develop a global network of agents of influence.