AN alleged Russian spy who worked for the MI6 was said to have been groomed since the age of five before being planted in the UK.
The refugee from Afghanistan, known as C2, worked for the Foreign Office, had access to military and intelligence secrets and even met with King Charles.
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After arriving in London using a fake holiday package, C2 gained asylum and worked for various public bodies as well as GCHQ and MI6, a court heard.
He was eventually caught when he shared porn with his handlers in Moscow.
The alleged spy was stripped of British citizenship in 2019 after MI5 agents accused him of being an agent for GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency, the Times report.
The British government has argued that letting him back into the country would pose a national security risk.
The accused denied the allegations that he had been groomed into becoming a Russian spy since he was a child.
He argued that he doesn’t pose a risk to national security, and has been appealing against the decision to strip him of his British citizenship.
C2 grew up in Afghanistan before paying a people smuggler to take him to Russia in 1994.
He settled in Russia as he studied the language before marrying a Russian citizen.
After obtaining a fake Russian passport and booking a holiday package to the Caribbean, C2 travelled to Heathrow where he was supposed to board his connecting flight.
But instead, he requested asylum from immigration officials saying he was fleeing the Taliban.
He was granted asylum in the UK in 2000 – he omitted mentioning he had lived in Russia for six years in his application.
He was later naturalised as a British citizen.
C2 admitted to the court that he had lied on his asylum application, but maintained that this was out of fear of being deported.
The alleged spy said he worked as a self-employed interpreter for GCHQ, MI6, the Ministry of Defence, and the Home Office.
During his time at the GCHQ, in 2006, the UK accused Russia of poisoning Alexander Litvinenko in London.
In the late 2000s, he moved to Afghanistan to work for the Foreign Office – where he met with members of the Royal family and senior officials including Gordon Brown and David Cameron.
He also claimed that during that time a member of the Pakistani intelligence services tried to recruit him.
He said: “I could see that he was fishing for information, seeking to find out what weapons we used and what would be handed over to the Afghan government.”
After leaving the Foreign Office, he worked in various jobs involving dealings with Russian officials and he visited Russia at least six times.
He admitted in court liaising and paying bribes to two Russian military attaches that he was later informed were GRU operatives.
He said they often chatted and added: “He had sent me and I had sent him naked pictures of women.”
Asked about Russia’s aims in Afghanistan, he said: “There are even now disputes between Russia and the West, but what does that have to do with me?”
Mr Justice Jay responded: “I think it is being suggested to you that you would have to be pretty naive to think that someone like him [one of the GRU assets] was not a Russian military agent.”
When C2 flew back to London from Kabul to see his family, he was questioned about his links to intelligence agencies by a British intelligence officer and a man from the FBI.
He said the British official named “Robert” accused him of being trained as a child to become a spy for Russia and working as a GRU agent.
He was asked to take a lie detector test in a second meeting and was told he failed it.
He also claimed that Robert informed him that MI5 knew about his contact with Russia since 2004.
He argued that it was “implausible” given his security clearance and two months later his British citizenship was stripped.
C2’s barrister Robert Palmer KC argued in court this week that C2 had put his life at risk working for the Foreign Office in Afghanistan and had a “track record of loyalty to the UK”.
The allegations are raising security concerns, especially as a group of five alleged Russian spies are set to face later this year.
The Bulgarian nationals are charged with possessing identity documents with “improper intention.”
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