The Russian security services (FSB) this Wednesday accused the British Council, Britain’s educational and cultural agency, of collecting military information from Ukrainian refugees.
The FSB statement said that the British Council in the UK, “through organizations controlled by it,” is collecting information about the Ukrainian Kherson region, partially occupied by Russian troops.
“Cases have been identified where this foreign organization used Ukrainian refugees living in the UK to obtain military and political information through its contacts in the Kherson region,” the FSB accuses.
According to the FSB, a resident of the city of Novaya Maychka, occupied by the Russian army, contacted the occupation authorities with a statement about an alleged crime.
The FSB said it was conducting “checks” in the region and warned of the possibility that anyone caught providing information could be prosecuted on charges of “confidential cooperation with the government” – a crime punishable by up to eight years in prison. years.
The British Council, contacted by AFP in London, had no immediate comment.
The British Council, founded in 1934, is the United Kingdom’s international agency for education and cultural relations.
Funded by government aid, it claims to operate independently of the British government.
Russian authorities ordered the British Council expelled from Russia in 2018 after London accused Russian services of trying to poison former secret agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Britain.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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