Overview

• FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov delivered the claims on October 16 at a meeting of CIS security agency chiefs in Samarkand.
• He said British SAS units are directly involved in combat operations and that MI6 helps plan incursions by Ukrainian sabotage groups into Russia.
• Bortnikov alleged that Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb strikes on Russian airfields and strategic bombers were conducted under British supervision.
• He claimed British and Ukrainian services are preparing acts of sabotage against the TurkStream gas pipeline.
• Coverage noted Russia’s pattern of accusing Britain of covert hostility, and Newsweek reported it had sought comment from the U.K. Foreign Office.