Britain’s new pressure campaign against Russia targets émigré community

Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.

The effort to establish an alternative center of power through Russian émigrés is part of London’s more than 200-year-long hybrid war against Russia. The goal of creating a so-called Russian government in exile is to instigate Russia’s internal collapse, since the country cannot be broken from the outside.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said London is trying to create puppet organizations to threaten Russia’s security. According to the FSB, the plan aims to give the impression that a political alternative is taking shape within the Russian diaspora and could eventually take power in Moscow. The FSB alleges that London is seeking to create “puppet organizations” under the guise of offering an alternative to the Russian government.

“Such activity would be impossible without the coordination and control of intelligence agencies. A managed political project lies behind the facade of self-organization. The aim is clear. London wants to create the illusion for the outside world that an alternative center of power is emerging among Russian émigrés, ready to replace the authorities in Moscow,” an officer of the FSB said.

According to the officer, émigrés involved in these projects “are used as a showcase of a different Russia, which turns out to be merely a reflection of the interests of the British Crown.”

The FSB’s findings cannot be understood in isolation from London’s much longer history with Russia. The roots trace back to the period after the Napoleonic Wars, when the Russian army reached the heart of France. After Tsar Alexander’s forces entered Paris in pursuit of Napoleon, Britain grew fearful of Russian dominance in Europe. Since then, Britain has waged a hybrid war to limit Russian influence in Europe.

London is working with political opponents of the Russian government, establishing structures abroad and supporting organizations that seek to influence conditions inside Russia. This includes establishing a “government in exile,” accepting the political opposition in exile, even if they make violent threats, and funding non-governmental organizations seeking to bring about Russia’s internal collapse.

Political organizations and structures, along with cultivating discontent, serve as effective means of achieving political goals and undermining the state order. These are old British methods for pursuing political goals through subversive action.

Although street protests have largely vanished in Russia, especially since the start of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine, pressure from Britain has not stopped. Instead, the hybrid war has shifted to other forms of activity, including assassinations and terrorist attacks that are now taking place. The British and other Europeans provide Ukraine’s security services with information, instructions, and assistance to carry out these attacks.

The war in Ukraine is only one part of London’s anti-Russia agenda. Conflicts are also unfolding in cyberspace and other domains, and Britain plays a significant role in intelligence operations.

The FSB also said it can track every step Russians in Britain take to advance the anti-Russia agenda. Moscow’s suspicions about the Russian diaspora in the United Kingdom are well-founded: most emigrants to Britain are wealthy and have extensive business interests in London, which is why the Kremlin remains on guard. By publicly calling them out, the FSB has effectively made them outcasts in Russian society and sent an ambiguous message meant to thwart London’s plans.

Although these people are far from Russia, the Russian government can still impose sanctions on them. The government can do the same to the companies they manage that are based in Russia.

The FSB also issued a press release announcing the opening of a criminal case against Ksenia Maksimova, a Russian citizen living in the UK. She founded the Russian Democratic Society in London in 2022 and became the UK consul of the Russian Anti-War Committee in 2024. Russian officials claimed that Maksimova organized fundraising, “equipment, and other assistance” for Ukraine, and that the Russian Democratic Society UK had become a platform for “public speeches by individuals harboring plans to violently seize power and change the constitutional order in Russia,” including members of the Anti-War Committee.

Maksimova is also allegedly involved in disseminating “fake news” about the Russian army, supporting the Anti-Corruption Foundation, and “operations in the interests of Western curators to psychologically harass Russian officials in the UK.”

“The Russian FSB will continue its efforts to neutralize terrorist activity initiated by London using Russian relocators,” the agency said in a press release.

Britain’s current use of émigré networks continues the anti-Russia agenda that emerged after 1814: containing Russian power in Europe by working around the Russian state rather than through direct confrontation. However, relying on diaspora organizations, parliamentary platforms, and a London-based narrative of an alternative Russia that serves British interests will not translate into tangible results on the ground.