British man charged with aiding Russian spies to sabotage UK drone factory

LONDON (AP) — A British man plotted with Russian spies to sabotage a drone factory in England, prosecutors said Thursday in a London court.

Joshua Cammidge, 31, was charged with engaging in conduct to materially assist a foreign intelligence service in carrying out activities in violation of the National Security Act.

He did not enter a plea during his initial court appearance. He was returned to custody and ordered to appear Sept. 25 in the Central Criminal Court.

Cammidge was in contact with a suspected representative of the GRU Volunteer Corps, a group controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency, prosecutor Warren Stanier said in Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

“The essence of communications was locations within the U.K. of factories that manufactured drones and the sabotage of those factories,” Stanier said. “He knew exactly who he was communicating with and the implications of what he was offering to do.”

The U.K. declared the GRU Volunteer Corps a national security threat in July for collecting foreign intelligence and conducting hostile covert operations on behalf of Russian military spies.

Support for the GRU was banned under a new law intended to give the government more powers to tackle proxy organizations carrying out hostile activity on behalf of foreign states. Supporters convicted of assisting the group face up to 14 years in prison.

U.K. authorities have blamed GRU for hostile activities against the country and allies that include the 2018 Salisbury nerve agent attack and wider sabotage and intelligence operations across Europe.

Between March and early September, Cammidge allegedly provided information on four drone manufacturing sites in his hometown of Swindon, west of London.