Overview

• On July 18, the UK sanctioned 18 officers and three units of Russia’s GRU, imposing asset freezes and travel bans on those named.
• Unit 26165 was singled out for online reconnaissance of Mariupol and Kharkiv bomb shelters shortly before the 2022 theatre strike that killed hundreds.
• Officers from the sanctioned units are accused of deploying X-Agent malware against Yulia Skripal in 2013 and planning the 2018 Novichok poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.
• Three leaders of the African Initiative were targeted for orchestrating Russian-backed misinformation operations that undercut health programs and stability in West Africa.
• NATO and EU statements backed London’s measures, marking the UK’s strongest action yet against Russia’s sustained cyber and hybrid warfare campaign.