UK sanctions Russian intelligence agency GRU over Novichok poisoning

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Britain on Thursday announced new sanctions against Russia, including the entire GRU military intelligence agency that was singled out in a UK public inquiry into the 2018 death of a woman poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok.

The government also summoned the Russian ambassador to demand a response to the inquiry's findings and over what it called Moscow's "ongoing campaign of hostile activity" against Britain.

The public inquiry concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin must have ordered the nerve agent attack by GRU operatives on Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018, in an incident that led to the death of an innocent woman, Dawn Sturgess.

"Today's findings are a grave reminder of the Kremlin’s disregard for innocent lives," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in the government's statement.

As one of Kyiv's staunchest supporters since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Britain has issued sanctions against a large number of Russian business figures, political leaders, companies and ships.

Following Thursday's inquiry report, it sanctioned the GRU in its entirety and eight cyber military intelligence officers.

Three other GRU officers who Britain said were responsible for orchestrating hostile activity in Ukraine and across Europe, including plotting an attack on Ukrainian supermarkets, were also sanctioned.

Russia has always denied any involvement in the Salisbury incident, and dismissed the latest British move.

"The Russian side does not recognise the illegitimate sanctions imposed under trumped-up pretexts in circumvention of the U.N. Security Council, and reserves the right to retaliatory measures," the state news agency RIA quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying.

"The British can be confident in the inevitability of such measures."

(Reporting by Catarina Demony and Muvija M; editing by William James and Mark Heinrich)