The head of the internal intelligence of Great Britain Ken McCallum informed that in 2022, about 600 Russian officials were expelled from the countries of the European Union, of which more than 400 were recognized as spies.
Reuters writes about it.
According to him, this dealt the largest strategic blow to the Russian special services in recent European history.
"And that scale, along with coordinated waves of sanctions, caught Putin off guard," McCallum noted.
He also said that London has rejected more than 100 applications from Russians for diplomatic visas this year on national security grounds.
- In June, the head of Britainʼs Foreign Intelligence Service said Russia had lost half of its spying capabilities in Europe after more than 400 Russian intelligence officers were expelled and several undercover agents posing as civilians were arrested.