Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 5, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
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Russia's FSB accuses British Council teachers of espionage, claiming they undermine Russian security. The British Council ceased operations in Russia in 2018.
By Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) accused British intelligence on Thursday of using the British Council as cover to undermine Russia and said it had identified teachers at leading universities who cooperated with the London-based charity.
With the war in Ukraine intensifying more than three years since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into the country and amid a tentative rapprochement between Moscow and Washington, Britain is now considered "enemy number one" by Russian officials.
The British Council, which calls itself "the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities", said in 2018 that it had been told to cease operations in Russia.
The British Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside usual London business hours on the Russian accusations. British intelligence could not be reached for immediate comment.
The disparate and divided Russian opposition, which is now mostly abroad, accuses Putin of building an increasingly repressive and autocratic regime in Russia as Moscow faces off against the West over Ukraine.
The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB and one of the most powerful organisations in Russia, said that it had identified teaching staff from leading universities in four Russian regions who had cooperated with the British Council.
The FSB said the British Council was used by British intelligence for attempts to erase Russian identity and develop a global network of agents of influence.
"During the investigation, representatives of the teaching staff of leading Russian universities who collaborated with the British side to the detriment of the security of the Russian Federation were identified," the FSB said.
The FSB, which said that 15 Russian citizens had been officially warned over their cooperation with the British Council, implored allies to ban the British Council and cautioned citizens to have no contact with it.
The British Council, originally called the British Committee for Relations with Other Countries, was founded in 1934 to spread British "soft power" amid the rise of fascism and communism, according to an official history on its website.
(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow; Editing by Alex Richardson)
The FSB accused British intelligence of using the British Council as a cover to undermine Russia and claimed it had identified teachers collaborating with British officials.
The FSB stated that 15 Russian citizens had been officially warned over their cooperation with the British Council.
The British Council was founded in 1934 to promote British 'soft power' during the rise of fascism and communism, originally called the British Committee for Relations with Other Countries.
The British Council did not immediately respond to the Russian accusations outside usual London business hours.
The disparate and divided Russian opposition, mostly abroad, accuses Putin of building an increasingly repressive and autocratic regime as tensions with the West escalate.
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