Translator invited into Downing Street suspected of being Russian spy

An interpreter invited into Downing Street during a meeting between Theresa May and Ukrainian PM Volodymyr Groysman has been arrested on suspicion of being a Russian spy.

Stanislav Yezhov was detained on Wednesday and accused of working for Moscow, the Financial Times reports.

“He is suspected of collecting insider information about the work of Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers for Russian intelligence agencies,” says the Kyiv Post. According to the newspaper, the country’s security service has opened a criminal case for state treason.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The spying claim “presents an awkward situation” for Prime Minister Theresa May and for Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who is flying to Moscow today for talks with his Russian counterpart, the FT says.

Groysman met May at 10 Downing Street on 5 July, when they discussed security, Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, and Russian sanctions, according to the UK government briefing paper describing the meeting.

Asked about the spying allegation during a press conference today in Poland, where she is attending a summit, May said: “I’m aware of the reports in relation to the Ukrainian individual who attended Downing Street earlier in the summer... The action that has been taken is a matter for the Ukrainian authorities.”

The BBC’s Jonah Fisher posted a photo of Yezhov leaving Downing Street with Ukraine’s PM, and said that Yezhov had also met then US vice president Joe Biden in 2016.

Sky News defence correspondent Alistair Bunkall tweeted a video showing Yezhov with May in Downing Street.

Yezhov, 39, has worked for the Ukrainian embassies in Slovenia and the US as well as translating for the Ukrainian PM, the Kyiv Post reports.