A British man has been charged with aiding Russian spies in a plot to sabotage a drone factory in England, prosecutors announced Thursday in a London court.
Joshua Cammidge, 31, faces a charge of engaging in conduct intended to materially assist a foreign intelligence service in carrying out activities that violate the National Security Act. He appeared in Westminster Magistrates’ Court and was ordered to return on September 25. He did not enter a plea.
According to prosecutor Warren Stanier, Cammidge was in communication with a suspected representative of the GRU Volunteer Corps, an organization controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency. Stanier stated that the communications involved "locations within the U.K. of factories that manufactured drones and the sabotage of those factories." He added that Cammidge "knew exactly who he was communicating with and the implications of what he was offering to do."
The GRU Volunteer Corps was designated a national security threat by the U.K. in July, for its role in collecting foreign intelligence and conducting covert operations on behalf of Russian military intelligence. The U.K. has enacted new laws to combat proxy organizations acting on behalf of foreign states, with penalties of up to 14 years in prison for assisting such groups.
Authorities in the U.K. have previously attributed hostile activities, including the 2018 Salisbury nerve agent attack and broader sabotage and intelligence operations across Europe, to the GRU.
Prosecutors allege that between March and early September, Cammidge provided information on four drone manufacturing sites located in Swindon, a town west of London.