Russia’s ambassador to London denied accusations by Britain and its allies of helping hackers attack laboratories conducting research on the coronavirus vaccine, in a UK television interview to be broadcast on Sunday.
Andrei Kelin said Thursday’s accusations by Britain, the United States and Canada that a group of hackers called APT29 was behind the online attacks and “almost certainly” linked to Russian intelligence, “made no sense.”
“I don’t believe this story at all, it doesn’t make sense,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr program, adding that he had learned about the existence of the hacker collective from British media reports.
“In this world, attributing any type of hacker to any country is impossible.”
Britain, the United States and Canada claimed Thursday that a group of hackers, known as the Dukes or the Welcoming Bear, with ties to Russian intelligence, had targeted investigative agencies around the world, including the United Kingdom.
At the same time, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said “Russian actors” had attempted to interfere in last year’s general election by “amplifying” government documents stolen online.
The documents, related to the US-UK trade talks, were collected by then-Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, who said they were evidence that conservatives were preparing to open the NHS to American pharmaceutical companies.
Kelin, who was named Moscow’s chief envoy to Britain last November, also rejected that claim, saying his country had no interest in interfering in British domestic politics.
“I don’t see any point in using this topic as a matter of interference,” Kelin said.
“We don’t interfere at all. We do not see any point of interference because for us, either (the conservative party or the labor party at the head of this country, we will try to establish relations and establish better relations than now, “he said.
Meanwhile, Kelin claimed that the Russian authorities had uncovered “several cyber attacks” that originated on UK territory during the country’s recent constitutional referendum, which paved the way for President Vladimir Putin to remain in power until 2036.
Kelin said Russia was not “accusing the United Kingdom as a state” of being involved in the attacks, but did not elaborate on its nature.
Russia and Britain have been at odds since Moscow was accused of trying to kill double agent Sergei Skripal with a powerful military-grade nerve agent in 2018.
The attack in Salisbury, southwest England, came 12 years after the radiation poisoning of former spy Alexander Litvinenko in London.
Russia has denied participation, and Kelin said the country was ready to emerge from the controversies.
“We are ready to turn the page and we are ready to do business with Britain,” he added.
