Russia has accused the British Council of spying for Ukraine

Russia’s security service said the agency, which has ceased operations in Russia since 2018, was collecting information in parts of the Kherson region occupied by Russian forces.

“(The British Council) carried out intelligence activities in the interests of Kyiv through its subordinate organizations,” the FSB said.

The British Council did not provide comments to the AFP news agency.

The FSB said in a statement that it “used Ukrainian refugees living in the UK to obtain military and political intelligence through their contacts in the Kherson region”.

It adds that a resident of the settlement of Nova Mayachka, which is controlled by Russian forces, turned to the occupation authorities and reported a suspected crime.

The FSB said it would carry out checks in the area and warned it might prosecute individuals for “collusion with the government”, which carries a prison sentence of eight years.

The British Council was founded in 1934. It receives funding from the UK government but operates independently.

In 2018, Moscow banned the British Council following London accused Russia of poisoning ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with the Novichok chemical warfare agent in Salisbury, England.