In Britain, a man offered "Russian intelligence" data on the former minister. The latter reacted

howard Phillips, a 65-year-old Briton, has been found guilty of assisting foreign intelligence. He allegedly offered Russian agents the personal data of former Defense Minister Grant Shepps, reports Reuters.

According to prosecutors, the defendant offered Shepps' home address and phone number to two people who introduced themselves as Alexander and Dmitry. He believed them to be Russian agents, but in fact they were covert British intelligence officers.

Phillips denied the charges and claimed that he was trying to "catch and expose a foreign agent." However, on July 22, a jury found him guilty of a crime under the National Security Act.

The prosecutor claimed that Phillips offered to help "Russian intelligence" not necessarily for ideological reasons or because he was sympathetic to Russia. He probably wanted to do a "job for easy money.".

The incident occurred in March 2024. Phillips was approached by people who introduced themselves as Russian agents. They asked him to save a file on a blank flash drive describing what he could offer them and for what reasons. He was to hide the flash drive in a parked bicycle on a London street .

In May of the same year, the defendant met with one of the "agents", allegedly named Dmitry, and said that he knew Shepps' home address, phone number, and the location of his private jet because he had visited his home. He was the head of the British Ministry of Defense from August 2023 to July 2024.

In addition to information, Phillips provided logistical support to two alleged agents: he booked a hotel and bought them a cell phone.

The former minister himself said, that helping a foreign enemy not only threatens the safety of him and his family, but also undermines the security of Britain. He noted that "it is necessary to confront hostile states such as Russia. However, an additional threat is that citizens themselves seek to help the enemy, and this is wrong.

"Today's verdict makes it clear that if you collude with an enemy state and thereby endanger British lives, you will face justice," Shepps wrote on the X network.

• on May 12, Britain convicted six Bulgarian citizens for spying for Russia. The defendants were sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison.
• On June 11, it was reported that in Poland a local resident was accused of working for Russian intelligence. According to law enforcement, he collected and transmitted information about the functioning of facilities of key importance to the country's defense.