‘Russian man’ among small boat migrant arrivals in Britain last week as spy fears mount

A Russian man is understood to have been among a group of migrants who reached British shores on a small boat last week.

Sparking espionage concerns, security experts have warned the incident highlights how the Kremlin could exploit the Channel migrant crisis to smuggle spies or saboteurs into the UK.

The Russian national, a source told the Mail on Sunday, was among around 30 migrants who avoided interception and reached Samphire Hoe near Dover last Tuesday.

Twenty-one migrants, including the Russian man, were subsequently detained, while the remaining passengers were unaccounted for, raising concerns over so-called “uncontrolled landings”.

This was the second boat in a week to reached the UK undetected by Border Force.

The first boat, carrying five migrants, landed unnoticed at the Warren, near Folkestone, on Monday – all give were later detained.

It is understood there is currently no evidence the Russian national is a spy.

Border Force is investigating, it is understood, whether he may have been attempting to avoid conscription into the Russian military amid the war in Ukraine.

Counter Terrorism Policing South East confirmed it was aware of the incident but said it is not currently under active investigation.

The Home Office declined to comment.

The development follows earlier claims, made two months ago, that individuals with suspected links to Iranian intelligence had previously been intercepted attempting to enter the UK via small boats.

People smugglers operating on the Continent told The Telegraph Iran’s regime had facilitated passage to Britain for migrants based in Calais.

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This was said to be in exchange for future “favours” once they had settled in England.

Also, Abu Wadee, an alleged Palestinian militant who had called for violence against Jewish people and posed with weapons online, was among 235 migrants intercepted by Border Force in Kent last year, the Mail on Sunday revealed.

He was later jailed for nine months after illegally entering the UK by dinghy.

Security experts say the latest case underscores ongoing concerns that criminals, terrorists or foreign agents could exploit small boat crossings to enter the country undetected.

Colonel Philip Ingram, a former Army intelligence officer, said: “I am certain that there are an awful lot more boats that we are not intercepting and not knowing about.

“Those will be used by organised crime gangs, by terrorist organisations and hostile intelligence services to get people into the country for nefarious activities.

“There isn’t a ban on Russian nationals coming into the country but it is interesting that a Russian national has felt that they have to come across on a small boat, which suggests to me that there is something there that they didn’t want found out by going through passport control.

“What concerns me is the motivation for spending a significant sum of money to get a place in a very dangerous little boat to come across the Channel rather than by coming in through legitimate means.”

In a statement last week, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described the arrival of the unescorted boats as “not acceptable”.

She said: “Our improved monitoring has led to uncontrolled crossings becoming incredibly rare. But even one is one too many.

“That is why I have ordered an urgent review by the Border Security Command into how this happened, and what must be done to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

Bulgarian government minister Daniel Mitov said last year his country held evidence suggesting Russia’s foreign intelligence service maintained direct links with criminal gangs involved in facilitating illegal immigration into the EU.

He claimed Russian intelligence operatives had been assisting people smugglers in identifying vulnerabilities in EU border security.

He added operatives were advising migrants on how to exploit asylum systems across the EU and UK to avoid removal.