In a statement published by TASS, the FSB said that after the start of the full-scale invasion it sees intensified efforts by British intelligence services to consolidate the Russian opposition abroad. According to the agency, this work is aided by Russian citizens who left the country, sympathize with Ukraine, and are ready to act “on the enemy’s side”; the FSB called them “Vlasovites 2.0”.
The FSB claims that such Russian citizens who left the country are united in groups and “resistance movements” coordinated by British intelligence services. The statement also says that behind the “facade of self-organization” lies a controlled political project disguised as a democratic alternative, and that London’s goal is to create the illusion of an “alternative center of power” that could replace the authorities in Moscow.
Separately, the security service said that the individuals who decided to tie their fate to London and want Russia to be defeated are known to counterintelligence by name. In the same statement, the FSB added that it will not allow “Khrushchev-era mistakes with the amnesty of Banderites”.
Shortly before this, the FSB announced the opening of a criminal case against Russian citizen Ksenia Maksimova, who lives in Britain. According to the agency, in 2022 she created the Russian Democratic Society in London, and in 2024 became the consul of the “Anti-War Committee of Russia” in the United Kingdom.
The FSB claims that Maksimova collected money, “equipment and other assistance” for Ukraine, and that the Russian Democratic Society UK platform was used for speeches by people harboring plans for the violent seizure of power and the overthrow of the constitutional order in Russia. In addition, the security service accused her of spreading “fakes” about the Russian army, supporting the Anti-Corruption Foundation, and organizing actions against Russian officials in the United Kingdom.
Maksimova has been charged under Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — participation in the activities of a “terrorist organization”, and the FSB said it will continue work to “neutralize terrorist activity” that, according to it, was initiated by London using Russian relocants. In a separate context, The Moscow Times columnist Sergey Konyashin suggested that Moscow may be preparing for escalation toward London in the foreseeable future, and earlier the Kremlin recalled Russian ambassador to Britain Andrei Kelin without appointing a new person, effectively lowering the status of diplomatic relations to the level of chargé d’affaires.
Sources
