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Russia: British used 'rock' to spy
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russia's internal security service has accused four British Embassy employees of conducting a high-tech spying operation that included using an "advanced electronic spy gadget" in a fake rock, news agencies reported.
"An electronic cache from the British intelligence service was seized by counterintelligence," Interfax quoted Federal Security Service (FSB) chief spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko as saying Monday.
Interfax reported that the FSB had found the "spy gadget" installed inside the fake rock and that the British agents used it to reach their Russian contacts.
The FSB found a second such gadget and said the British had retrieved another, the Russian news agency reported. Interfax said a Russian citizen had been detained and had confessed to espionage.
Ignatchenko said the situation involving the Britons would be "resolved at a political level," according to the Russian news agency.
"It is most important that we caught them having contact with agents and funding a number of non-profit organizations (NGOs)," Ignatchenko said. "We are investigating the goals of this funding."
Monday's comments come a day after Russian state-run television aired a program allegedly showing British diplomats engaged in undercover activities in Moscow.
Officials at the British Foreign Office in London said earlier that they were "concerned and surprised" at the allegations in the TV program -- which also alleged that a British official authorized regular payments to Russian NGOs.
The Foreign Office said British officials "reject any allegation of improper conduct in our dealing with Russian NGOs."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair refused to comment on the matter at his monthly news conference in London on Monday.
Russia-based human rights bodies said the incident may be targeting them, following Russia's new curbs on the actions of NGO pressure groups, Reuters reported.
Hidden camera footage
According to the program broadcast by Rossiya television, Russian intelligence officers said they had uncovered an operation in which British agents allegedly downloaded data to and from a transmitter embedded in a fake rock.
The program said four British officials and at least one Russian informant downloaded classified data to and from the transmitter onto handheld computers. One Russian citizen, allegedly recruited by British agents, was later arrested, the program reported.
Hidden camera footage appeared to show individuals walking up to the rock by the side of a Moscow street, according to media reports. One man was seen on camera carrying the rock away. The rock appears to be about the size of a thick book.
The program also showed a document allegedly authorizing a transfer of $41,000 to the Moscow Helsinki Group, a leading Russian human rights group which has been a persistent critic of President Vladimir Putin, The Associated Press reported.
An FSB spokesman told Reuters that "everything that was shown (in the TV program) was true and based on our information."
"The diplomats were shown to be involved in activities that were incompatible with their diplomatic status," the spokesman said.
Officials at the British Embassy in Moscow declined to comment, AP said.
A statement from the British Foreign Office in London said: "We are concerned and surprised at these allegations. We reject any allegation of improper conduct in our dealing with Russian NGOs.
"It is well known that the UK government has financially supported projects implemented by Russian NGOs in the field of human rights and civil society.
"All our assistance is given openly and aims to support the development of a healthy civil society in Russia."
Last year, the head of the FSB accused U.S. and other foreign intelligence services of using NGOs to spy on Russia and foment political upheaval in ex-Soviet republics, AP reported.
Under legislation signed into law earlier this month by Putin, NGOs face tighter regulations on their financing and activities.
Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, said the incident was meant to put pressure on rights activists.
"I consider that this is a campaign against non-governmental organizations in Russia which is being organized from above and includes the television channels," Alexeyeva told Reuters.
"This is a complete 'deja vu' from the Soviet Union."
'Nothing is unlikely'
In Britain, experts on Russian affairs also suggested the TV report was deliberately timed to coincide with the clampdown on NGO activities in Russia.
Alex Standish, editor of Jane's Intelligence Review, said the allegations should be treated with caution but that they could be accurate.
"In this business nothing is unlikely," he told the UK's Press Association. "Don't dismiss anything out of hand because far more bizarre things have happened than a recording rock.
"It could be a KGB staged story to put pressure on the British, or it could be completely true."
Richard Sakwa, professor of Russian and European politics at the University of Kent, said the allegations were "incredible."
"There is no doubt about it, that the British, and Americans and others have been active in the spying field, but this is extraordinary," he told PA.
He said the question was why the story should break now and suggested it could be interpreted as a means of protesting U.S. policy of backing NGOs in an attempt to achieve change.
"The fact is that, in attacking Britain, the British are just simply becoming associated as a support agency for the the U.S.," he said.
"It is like they are getting at Britain purely and simply as a way of warning the U.S."
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russia's internal security service has accused four British Embassy employees of conducting a high-tech spying operation that included using an "advanced electronic spy gadget" in a fake rock, news agencies reported.
"An electronic cache from the British intelligence service was seized by counterintelligence," Interfax quoted Federal Security Service (FSB) chief spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko as saying Monday.
Interfax reported that the FSB had found the "spy gadget" installed inside the fake rock and that the British agents used it to reach their Russian contacts.
The FSB found a second such gadget and said the British had retrieved another, the Russian news agency reported. Interfax said a Russian citizen had been detained and had confessed to espionage.
Ignatchenko said the situation involving the Britons would be "resolved at a political level," according to the Russian news agency.
"It is most important that we caught them having contact with agents and funding a number of non-profit organizations (NGOs)," Ignatchenko said. "We are investigating the goals of this funding."
Monday's comments come a day after Russian state-run television aired a program allegedly showing British diplomats engaged in undercover activities in Moscow.
Officials at the British Foreign Office in London said earlier that they were "concerned and surprised" at the allegations in the TV program -- which also alleged that a British official authorized regular payments to Russian NGOs.
The Foreign Office said British officials "reject any allegation of improper conduct in our dealing with Russian NGOs."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair refused to comment on the matter at his monthly news conference in London on Monday.
Russia-based human rights bodies said the incident may be targeting them, following Russia's new curbs on the actions of NGO pressure groups, Reuters reported.
Hidden camera footage
According to the program broadcast by Rossiya television, Russian intelligence officers said they had uncovered an operation in which British agents allegedly downloaded data to and from a transmitter embedded in a fake rock.
The program said four British officials and at least one Russian informant downloaded classified data to and from the transmitter onto handheld computers. One Russian citizen, allegedly recruited by British agents, was later arrested, the program reported.
Hidden camera footage appeared to show individuals walking up to the rock by the side of a Moscow street, according to media reports. One man was seen on camera carrying the rock away. The rock appears to be about the size of a thick book.
The program also showed a document allegedly authorizing a transfer of $41,000 to the Moscow Helsinki Group, a leading Russian human rights group which has been a persistent critic of President Vladimir Putin, The Associated Press reported.
An FSB spokesman told Reuters that "everything that was shown (in the TV program) was true and based on our information."
"The diplomats were shown to be involved in activities that were incompatible with their diplomatic status," the spokesman said.
Officials at the British Embassy in Moscow declined to comment, AP said.
A statement from the British Foreign Office in London said: "We are concerned and surprised at these allegations. We reject any allegation of improper conduct in our dealing with Russian NGOs.
"It is well known that the UK government has financially supported projects implemented by Russian NGOs in the field of human rights and civil society.
"All our assistance is given openly and aims to support the development of a healthy civil society in Russia."
Last year, the head of the FSB accused U.S. and other foreign intelligence services of using NGOs to spy on Russia and foment political upheaval in ex-Soviet republics, AP reported.
Under legislation signed into law earlier this month by Putin, NGOs face tighter regulations on their financing and activities.
Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, said the incident was meant to put pressure on rights activists.
"I consider that this is a campaign against non-governmental organizations in Russia which is being organized from above and includes the television channels," Alexeyeva told Reuters.
"This is a complete 'deja vu' from the Soviet Union."
'Nothing is unlikely'
In Britain, experts on Russian affairs also suggested the TV report was deliberately timed to coincide with the clampdown on NGO activities in Russia.
Alex Standish, editor of Jane's Intelligence Review, said the allegations should be treated with caution but that they could be accurate.
"In this business nothing is unlikely," he told the UK's Press Association. "Don't dismiss anything out of hand because far more bizarre things have happened than a recording rock.
"It could be a KGB staged story to put pressure on the British, or it could be completely true."
Richard Sakwa, professor of Russian and European politics at the University of Kent, said the allegations were "incredible."
"There is no doubt about it, that the British, and Americans and others have been active in the spying field, but this is extraordinary," he told PA.
He said the question was why the story should break now and suggested it could be interpreted as a means of protesting U.S. policy of backing NGOs in an attempt to achieve change.
"The fact is that, in attacking Britain, the British are just simply becoming associated as a support agency for the the U.S.," he said.
"It is like they are getting at Britain purely and simply as a way of warning the U.S."
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