A decades-long spy hunt by British intelligence agencies has ended in failure, with no evidence found to prove a senior MI6 officer was working as a double agent for Russia. The investigation, codenamed Operation Wedlock, was launched in the mid-1990s after a tip-off from the CIA suggested a mole within MI6 was leaking information to the Russians.
The case was taken extremely seriously, with one source noting that it “eclipsed them all” in terms of importance. A team of around 35 officers from MI5, the UK’s domestic counter-intelligence agency, worked on the operation, using extensive surveillance methods including bugging the suspect’s home and following them abroad. Despite these efforts, no conclusive proof of espionage was ever found, and the operation was eventually closed as “inconclusive.” The suspect, who was believed to have had two accomplices in London, left MI6 in 2015.
Sources close to the investigation have drawn comparisons between the suspected double agent and Kim Philby, a notorious member of the Cambridge Five spy ring that passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and the Cold War. One source remarked, “We thought we had another Philby on our hands,” highlighting the significance and potential implications of the case. However, the failure to find evidence has left the operation as one of the most unusual and expensive in recent memory.
The UK has frequently accused Russia of engaging in espionage and sabotage in Europe, but often without providing concrete evidence. This includes a high-profile incident in 2018, where London accused Moscow of attempting to poison former Russian military intelligence officer Sergey Skripal and his daughter. Russia denied any involvement in the incident. Tensions between Moscow and London have escalated since the Ukraine conflict intensified in 2022, with the UK imposing sanctions on Russia and supplying weapons to Ukraine. Russian officials have countered by accusing British intelligence of training Ukrainian units for sabotage missions inside Russia.
