British troops told: Watch out for Russian honeytraps
BRITISH spy chiefs claim Russia has sent honeytrap agents to Estonia to snare UK troops taking part in a Nato military exercise.
The deployment of 800 British troops, tanks and drones is part of the biggest military build-up on Russia’s borders since the Cold War.
Soldiers were told in a predeployment briefing to beware of intelligence gatherers and femmes fatales from the Russian secret service.
They were told to be on their guard against cleaners, local support workers, and especially seductive women in bars in the capital, Tallinn.
The briefing highlighted the news that Russian spies were carrying specialist machines that can scan the phone of a person they are talking to, and use surveillance technology to monitor the phone’s subsequent use – especially emails that may be copied to and from a linked laptop.
A senior intelligence source said: ‘ These people think totally out of the box and often do not work to the same principles that we might.
‘Young men and women will be vulnerable and they need to be aware of the threat.
‘A special team is working on the cyber-threat assessment with the key information about femmes fatales and phones coming from MI6, who have been operating in the region for months.’
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon announced yesterday that British soldiers would head to Estonia in the next few days to deter Russian aggression.
Speaking in the Commons during defence questions, he said: ‘This is the year in which Nato is deploying its enhanced forward presence
‘I’m proud that Britain is leading that deployment in Estonia, and the first wave of our troops will be leaving for Estonia this week.
‘We will also be deploying in Poland and in Romania.
‘The best way to reassure our allies in Nato and to deter any Russia aggression is for Nato to stand up.’
Soldiers from the Queen’s Royal Hussars were briefed at Sennelager in Germany this month in preparation for the deployment.
They will join troops from the 5 Rifles battle group in Estonia’s capital Tallinn.
Senior officers from the Intelligence Corps warned soldiers to watch out for ‘human intelligence’ gathering.
The Ministry of Defence was passed an intelligence warning that Moscow has deployed a special undercover unit to the area collate information from soldiers.
MI6 warned that Russia’s federal security service the FSB, which replaced the KGB, was active in Tallinn and would use a wide range of resources to gather information about the deployment.
They say attractive Russian spies may try to befriend lonely soldiers to gather information. Troops were warned to avoid using internet cafes and not to discuss the deployment on smartphones.