ANALYSIS

Tensions rise as the danger from Russia increases

THERESA May’s expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats will have a devastating effect on Russia’s intelligence capability inside Britain.

Not only does it mean a hardcore of Moscow’s top operators will no longer be here as spies but it also means MI5 will free up resources.

Trying to track the movements of Russian spies is a costly, time-consuming business but the real work begins behind the scenes.

There are undoubtedly a handful of Russian “illegals”, as they are called in the intelligence world – deep undercover sleeper cells or single spies.

They may have been here for many years, just waiting to strike Britain whilst appearing entirely innocent.

This could be an act of violence against a Russian dissident here, an ex-spy as we have seen before, or a threat against the state.

Putin has shown he does not care if we are sure he is behind the attempted murder of the double-agent and his daughter.

And that shows that we could be entering an extremely tense time in dealing with the Russian threat, which grows by the day.

Any act that puts Britain on the back foot is useful, according to Russian intelligence.

They are prodding away, testing our reactions and occupying enormous amounts of resources.

And all the time Putin has a plan to make Russia dominant once more – as he has already proven, almost at any cost.