A top Kremlin official has urged Brits to spy for Putin, as the war of words between London and Moscow continued to escalate.
To date the most famous British Russian agent was Kim Philby, a member of the so-called Cambridge Five.
Along with the likes of Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, Philby passed on official secrets to the Soviets during and after World War II.
He eventually defected to the Soviet Union in 1963, after being unmasked as a traitor. The former MI6 officer would spend the rest of his life in Russia, living in Moscow until his death in 1988.
Now in a bizarre twist, Russia’s Foreign Affairs spokeswoman appears to be on the search for Philby Mark II.
Taking to the nation’s airwaves, Maria Zakharova said: “I think it’s a good idea to offer UK nationals, most of whom are now in extremely straitened circumstances, a chance to cooperate with the Russian secret services.
“Why not, what’s the big deal? I don’t see why we should deny ourselves that, so let’s wait and see.”
Her remarks were a reply to an unusual public appeal to Russians by MI6’s Sir Richard Moore during a speech at the British Embassy in Prague in July.
The British spymaster called on Russians appalled by the war in Ukraine to spy for the UK to help bring an end to the bloodshed.
He said: “There are many Russians today who are silently appalled by the sight of their armed forces pulverising Ukrainian cities, expelling innocent families from their homes and kidnapping thousands of children.
“They are watching in horror as their soldiers ravage a kindred country. They know in their hearts that Putin’s case for attacking a fellow Slavic nation is fraudulent.”
His appeal is thought to have been aimed at disaffected Russian intelligence officers, military officials and diplomats – all of whom would make valuable assets.
The appeal has clearly irritated the Kremlin, who sent out their attack dog to savage Sir Richard and Britain. Zakharova claimed the UK was using Nazi-style propaganda as part of its anti-Russian agenda.
“These methods are very much akin to Goebbels’ propaganda, when the Nazis suggested that Soviet citizens ‘cooperate’, saying that the Motherland allegedly didn’t love them,” she said.
“In the West, our citizens are always ‘loved’ and asked to ‘cooperate’ when it’s time for Plan B after the failed blitzkrieg.”
Ms Zakhorova was once accused of “primitivism” and “vulgarity” by a key Russian ally, forcing Putin to make a rare public apology.
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić visited the White House in September 2020 to to sign a a co-operation deal with Kosovo.
In response, the Kremlin’s Foreign Affairs spokeswoman posted a photo of Vučić sitting opposite then US President Donald Trump in the White House – and below it a photo of actress Sharon Stone’s legs.
The provocative screenshot of the crossed legs came from the film Basic Instinct, in a scene where Sharon Stone’s character briefly exposes herself.
Ms Zakharova’s post said Vučić looked as if he was being interrogated by President Trump.
“If you are invited to the White House but your chair stands like you are in an interrogation, you should sit like in the picture number 2. Whoever you are. Just trust me,” Ms Zakharova wrote.
The next day she was forced to update her Facebook post, saying her comments had been misunderstood.
She said she was taking aim at American “arrogance”, not the Serbian leader.
However, the Serbian President laid into her in a TV interview, saying: “Maria Zakharova speaks mostly about herself, and the primitivism and vulgarity she showed speaks of her, and by God, of those who placed her there”.
