What do we know about Russian spies meddling in UK politics?  

Welcome to Friday’s Early Edition from i.

A shadowy cyber unit operating out of a downtown Moscow office block is now under a big spotlight. Star Blizzard, which also goes by the names Cold River and Callisto Group, is believed to be part of a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) espionage unit known as Centre 18. And according to the UK Government, it has sustained a hacking campaign against high profile politicians and former intelligence chiefs in Britain for at least eight years. In some extraordinary testimony yesterday, Foreign Office minister Leo Docherty told MPs the group had “a clear intent – using information they obtain to meddle in British politics”. He said: “They have targeted members of this House and the (House of Lords). They have been targeting civil servants, journalists and NGOs.” The Foreign Office has now named two men it says are responsible, and imposed sanctions on them. But who are they, who have they targeted, and what else might be at risk? We’ll take a look, after the headlines.

 Today’s news, and why it matters

 Social media is driving a record rise in extremism in schools, the UK’s leading terror expert has warned, following a surge in the number of pupils referred to counter-terror authorities by their teachers. Figures published by the Home Office showed that 39 per cent of all referrals to the Prevent counter-terror scheme in England and Wales came from teachers and education workers in the year to 31 March 2023.

A Rwandan opposition leader has warned the Government’s new migration deal does not address human rights concerns and could leave asylum seekers sent there open to persecution. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza said that asylum seekers who are deported to Rwanda under the new legislation could face a crackdown if they protest against conditions, citing the killing of Congolese refugees by police in 2018.

Boris Johnson spent more than 10 hours over two days being grilled by the Covid inquiry about his role in the pandemic. He was twice on the verge of tears as he claimed he cared about the victims of the virus but also faced an angry reaction from bereaved relatives. Here are four things we learned from his evidence – and three things we didn’t.

Jurors in the murder trial of transgender girl Brianna Ghey have been shown a handwritten note planning the killing that was found in a teenager’s bedroom. It reads: “Go to the pipe/tunnel area. I say codeword to Boy Y. He stabs her in the back as I stab her in the stomach.”

The Duke of Sussex felt “forced” to leave the UK over concerns he would not be able to keep his children “safe”, the High Court has heard. Prince Harry said in a written witness statement that it was impossible to keep his family safe “when they are on UK soil”, as he battled the Home Office in court over the decision to downgrade his publicly funded security.

Three key questions on Russia’s secret hacking unit:

What is it alleged to have done? Star Blizzard is said to have used spear-phishing, a practice that aims to steal sensitive information by targeting high-profile people with malicious emails, from multiple political parties since 2015. It is also said to be behind the hack of UK-US trade documents leaked ahead of the 2019 general election. Those documents were obtained from Tory MP Liam Fox’s email account and ended up being used by Jeremy Corbyn, the-then Labour leader, at a press conference where he said the Conservatives wanted to sell off the NHS post-Brexit.

It was later revealed the documents had been posted on the social media platform Reddit and brought to the attention of Corbyn’s team. Six years ago, British think tank the Institute for Statecraft and its founder Christopher Donnelly were also targeted with documents subsequently leaked. In addition to that, an FSB officer detailed to Centre 18 was accused by the US in 2017 of facilitating a hack of at least 500 million Yahoo accounts in 2014, at the time one of the largest data breaches in American history. Russia denied it. Yesterday it was reported that victims of the spear-phishing hacks in the UK included Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6 and Scottish National Party MP Stewart McDonald.

Last year the Reuters news agency revealed a Russian operation to hack emails from him and other Brexiteers. On a website named a “Very English Coop d’Etat” private emails from Richard Dearlove, Gisela Stuart, pro-Brexit historian Robert Tombs, and other supporters were said to be published. The Times reported that Dearlove said on Thursday a colleague’s emails were hacked before his email was targeted. Yesterday Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said: “Russia’s attempts to interfere in UK politics are completely unacceptable and seek to threaten our democratic processes. Despite their repeated efforts, they have failed.” Read more here.

What concerns does it raise? With a general election looming, there are concerns Russia could attempt to interfere. In October, the head of MI5 Ken McCallum warned that AI and deepfake technology could be used by hostile states to try to disrupt and sow confusion at the next election. Mr McCallum insisted that the growing sophistication of new technology opens up the possibility that the likes of Russia “might seek to use these technologies to influence public opinion in all kinds of ways”.

Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy also warned about other major elections happening around the world. “It comes of course as we approach 2024, the year of elections. Not only in Britain, but in the United States, in India, and in the European Union, and more than 70 elections are scheduled in 40 countries across the world.” Read more here. “This actor is one to watch closely as elections near,” the Guardian quoted John Hultquist, chief analyst at Mandiant, a US cybersecurity firm. “The FSB clearly has an interest in political interference, and hacked emails are a powerful tool.”

What do we know about the hacking unit? The Foreign Office has sanctioned individuals Andrey Stanislavovich Korinets, AKA Alexey Doguzhiev, a member of Star Blizzard and FSB intelligence officer Ruslan Aleksandrovich Peretyatko. One was reported to be a “central figure” in the city’s hacking community, a security researcher told Reuters. US officials have also offered $10m (£7.9m) for any information about the pair, it has been reported. A UK intelligence source told i that the Centre 18 unit was first identified as the culprit of a sustained hacking attempt in 2018 after being mentioned in connection with a series of hack attempts here.

The source said intelligence officials traced the group back to a modern office block in central Moscow, commenting that it was “a very low profile for a government agency”. The group is believed to conduct reconnaissance using social media profiles to identify “hooks to engage their target”, according to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre. The information is then used to find information to lure potential targets using fake emails and social media accounts impersonating known contacts of their victim. Read more here.

Around the world

 Footage shared on social media appears to show Israeli forces strip and detain Palestinians. It is not clear when the images were taken. A Qatari-owned news outlet based in London reported that at least one of the detainees was a journalist.

Taiwan’s defence ministry says a Chinese balloon crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, a month before its presidential election. The defence minister, Chiu Kuo-cheng told reporters: “Our initial understanding is that it was a sounding balloon.”

Hunter Biden has been indicted on nine tax charges in California, in which he is accused of failing to pay $1.4m in taxes while spending millions of dollars on his lifestyle. The new charges come in addition to federal firearms charges in Delaware alleging he broke a law against drug users having guns in 2018.

British expats living in Australia and Canada say they are working beyond retirement age to make ends meet because their UK state pensions have been “frozen”, with some only receiving about £46 a week. About 500,000 British people living abroad are affected by the policy, whereby their annual pension remains at the level it was when they retired – and is not indexed annually in line with the triple lock that is afforded to residents in the UK.

An Australian man has died after being buried in sand on a beach, authorities say. Josh Taylor, 23, was at a beach campground on Queensland’s Bribie Island on Saturday when he fell into a hole that had been reportedly dug to roast a pig.

 Watch out for…

 The funeral procession of Shane MacGowan in Ireland. Mourners are expected to line the the streets to watch the procession, which begins at St Lotts Road in Dublin at 11am. 

 Thoughts for the day

 The Covid inquiry has given us some justice – Boris Johnson finally squirming. He brought all the worst people, behaviour and practices into the heart of Downing Street, argues Ayesha Hazarika.

Free speech ‘protectors’ have allowed antisemitism to thrive. Universities seem unable to call out hate speech, says Sebastian Payne.

Benjamin Zephaniah was a true revolutionary – Britain was not ready for him. The poet always spoke truth to power. The literary world is far less rich without him, writes Kieran Yates.

Culture Break

 Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart: ‘A Labour win won’t kill The Rest Is Politics’. Britain’s best-loved podcasting duo talk to Tom Nicholson about how they became centrist dad icons.

The Big Read

 ‘I cycle at 72 to support children in care – their hard life isn’t their fault.’ Gill Timmis has raised more than £1m for i’s Christmas appeal charity, Become – and she’s determined to keep supporting children in care and young care leavers, reports Aasma Day.

Sport

 The stat that shows Declan Rice is Arsenal’s complete midfielder. For £105m you’d expect to get a midfielder who can do it all – and that is exactly what Rice is doing, writes Oliver Young-Myles.

Something to brighten your day

 I’m a sleep scientist – here are six daily habits I live by for a better night. From stretching breaks to adjusting lights, Dr Kat Lederle shares the deceptively simple things she does for her sleep.