priority to disrupting the threat posed by illicit Russian financial activity. One key measure would be an overhaul of the Tier 1 (Investor) visa programme[1] – there needs to be a more robust approach to the approval process for these visas.
57. Whilst the oligarchs and their money have been the most obviously visible part of the Russian diaspora, recent events have highlighted the number of Russians in the UK who are on the opposing side. Since Putin came to power in 1999, a number of critics of Putin and the Russian government have sought sanctuary in the UK, fearing politically motivated criminal charges and harassment.[2] They are of interest to the Russian Intelligence Services (RIS), which may seek to target them in a number of ways:
- it is possible the RIS will seek to monitor some of these individuals using human sources (i.e. agents) and by technical means, for example by intercepting phone calls and hacking into their personal electronic devices;
- RIS collection of intelligence could also be used in support of 'influence operations', with the objective of degrading an individual’s ability to encourage international or domestic Russian political opposition to Putin and his government; or
- the RIS may seek to identify or engineer opportunities to arrange an individual's arrest and transfer to Russia to stand trial, or indeed meet a worse fate.
58. On 15 June 2017, BuzzFeed News published the results of its investigation into 14 deaths in the UK of Russian business figures and British individuals linked to them.[3] The attempted assassination of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in March 2018 prompted calls for the Government to investigate the allegations that had been made in the BuzzFeed report and, on 6 March 2018, the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee wrote to the Home Secretary calling for a review of the 14 deaths, given the "considerable concerning evidence" from BuzzFeed which raised "questions over the robustness of the police investigations".[4]
59. The Committee has taken evidence on these matters. We have been told that ***. ***.[5]
60. We questioned whether the need to protect those at risk in the UK has been given sufficient priority. We were assured that all figures at risk – Russian or otherwise – receive protection according to the level of risk, through a police-led process ***.[6]
61. We welcomed this process, but questioned whether the Intelligence Community has a clear picture of how many Russians there are in the UK who are at risk – for example, would MI5 or any other relevant agency ***? This would appear to be an immediate and obvious way in to the issue, and the ***, so it would appear manageable. In response we were told that ***.
- ↑ A Tier 1 (Investor) visa allows the recipient to stay in the UK for three years and four months in exchange for a £2m investment in the UK.
- ↑ These include such high-profile figures as ***.
- ↑ 'From Russia with Blood', BuzzFeed News, 15 June 2017.
- ↑ Letter from the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee to the Home Secretary, 6 March 2018.
- ↑ ***
- ↑ Oral evidence – *** February 2019.
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