Europe has kicked out over 400 suspected Russian spies this year alone, British intelligence chief says

European countries have expelled hundreds of Russian officials who are thought to be spies, according to a top British intelligence official.

During an annual speech reviewing the UK's threat level, the director general of MI5 praised the intelligence community for its role in the ongoing Ukraine war and highlighted a coordinated international response against Russia's covert operations.

"This year, a concerted campaign has seen a massive number of Russian officials expelled from countries around the world, including more than 600 from Europe."

He said these actions have "struck the most significant strategic blow against the Russian Intelligence Services in recent European history" and that the scale of the efforts have taken Russian President Vladimir Putin by surprise.

Hundreds of Russian diplomatic staff, many of whom were suspected of being intelligence operatives, were kicked out of embassies and missions across the continent.

Dozens of Russian diplomats were kicked out of Poland by the end of March. They were accused of pushing false narratives and propaganda against the West by the intelligence chief.

The response to the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal by Russian intelligence operatives is what inspired the expulsions in 2022. Hundreds of Russians were kicked out of European countries.

The other part of the template is keeping the Russian intelligence in check. Since our removal of 23 Russian spies posing as diplomats, we have refused over 100 Russian diplomatic visa applications.

The UK must be prepared for years of Russian aggression in the future.

Russian spies and operatives have been suspected of carrying out attacks like bombings, poisonings, sabotage, and assassination attempts for years, and Europe has tried to combat Moscow's increasing hostile activities in other countries.

The Joint Intelligence and Security Division was created by NATO.