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 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 said that it was disappointed with what it cast as a Russian “ban on all collaboration with the British Council” and said allegations it was involved in espionage were false. British intelligence could not be reached for comment.
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.
“On 5 June, the Russian Government announced a ban on all collaboration with the British Council. We are disappointed by this development,” the Council said in an emailed statement.
“Whilst political relationships can fluctuate, we believe that it is vital to maintain on-going dialogue between people and institutions around the world.”
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.
On Russian allegations that it was involved in espionage, the Council said: “These allegations are false.”
“We work to support peace and prosperity between the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and English language teaching,” it said.
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.
(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow; Editing by Alex Richardson and Diane Craft)
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