British counter-terrorism police have arrested a senior member of the US military in England on suspicion of spying for Russia. It is believed to be the first time a US soldier stationed in the UK has been suspected of working for a foreign intelligence service.
What we know
The suspect is a 41-year-old man. His name has not been released, as UK police generally do not identify suspects before they are charged. He was arrested near Gloucester by London’s Metropolitan Police, and officers searched two locations in Gloucestershire.
The BBC reported that he was based at Imjin Barracks in Innsworth, Gloucestershire. The barracks are home to NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, a multinational headquarters that can be deployed to lead NATO forces in a crisis.
The charges being looked at
He was arrested on suspicion of offences under two sections of the UK’s National Security Act 2023:
- Section 1: obtaining or disclosing protected information
- Section 3: assisting a foreign intelligence service
Under the Act, police can hold a suspect for up to 14 days without charge. Counter Terrorism Policing London is leading the case, which police say is not linked to any other ongoing investigation.
What officials said
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans credited “close collaboration between UK and US authorities” and said the investigation is “very much ongoing.”
FBI Director Kash Patel called the allegations a matter of “utmost concern.” He said the FBI made 167 counter-intelligence and espionage-related arrests over the past 21 months, a 53% rise on the previous comparable period. Brigadier General Sean Stinchon of US Army Counterintelligence Command warned that insider threats are “real and persistent.”
No response from Russia had been reported at the time of writing.
A pattern of cases
The arrest comes after a string of Russia-linked spying cases in Britain. In October, police arrested three men on suspicion of helping Russian intelligence under the same Section 3. About a month before that, two men and a woman were held on suspicion of spying for Moscow.
Relations between London and Moscow are at a low point. The UK has been one of Ukraine’s strongest backers since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, and memories of the 2006 Litvinenko poisoning and the 2018 Skripal attack still shape how seriously British security services treat Russian activity.
The coming days will show whether the suspect is charged or released. Either way, a case involving a NATO headquarters will be watched closely in Washington and across the alliance.
Reporting based on Al Jazeera and CNN.
Featured image: Saffron Blaze, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
