Refugee suspected to be Russian spy worked for MI6 and Foreign Office

An alleged Russian spy is claimed to have lied to gain asylum in Britain before working for the country’s spy agencies and meeting with the future King, it was reported on February 7.

The Afghanistan refugee is alleged to have acted as a spy for Russia while working for GCHQ and MI6, The Telegraph reports.

He also had access to working alongside two ministers along with the then Prince Charles and Prince William, during his time in Afghanistan working for the British government.

It is said he had both Russian and British citizenship but went on to be stripped of his UK passport in 2019.

The step was taken as MI5 believed he had acted for the GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency, which was said to be behind the nerve agent attack in Salisbury a year earlier.

He admitted in a hearing before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) on February 6 that he had lied in his asylum application and said he had opted not to say he had been living in Russia over fear he would have to leave the country.

Rory Dunlop KC, for the government, questioned if he was a Russian agent.

He claims: “I could see that he was fishing for information, seeking to find out what weapons we used and what would be handed over to the Afghan government.”

Mr Dunlop suggested that the interaction proved C2 was not “naive” and could “figure out when someone is fishing for information”.

He went on to work in Afghanistan, which led him to work closely with Russian officials, and he visited Russia around six times.

National security assessments in his case had said C2 “is considered” to be a GRU agent but it was altered to past tense and he said his security assessment was “overegged”.

During the hearing he admitted handing over two cash bribes to two Russian military attachés, only to be later advised that they were working for GRU by MI5. He also held a meeting with an official in the Russian Foreign Ministry.

On being asked about Russia’s aims in Afghanistan, he said: “There are even now disputes between Russia and the West, but what does that have to do with me?”