'Russian arrival' among migrants who reached British shores last week sparks spying fears

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By MARK HOOKHAM, ASSISTANT EDITOR (INVESTIGATIONS) and ALI KEFFORD

Published: 00:51 BST, 27 September 2026 | Updated: 00:52 BST, 27 September 2026

A Russian man was among migrants who reached British shores in an unescorted small boat last week sparking major security concerns, it was claimed last night.

Amid mounting fears that Moscow will attack a Nato ally, security experts said the arrival of the Russian national exposes how the Kremlin could exploit the Channel migrant crisis to infiltrate spies and saboteurs into Britain.

A well placed insider told The Mail on Sunday that the Russian was among around 30 Channel migrants who avoided being intercepted and reached Samphire Hoe near Dover last Tuesday.

Twenty-one migrants, including the Russian, were detained, with the remainder missing, raising fears about the security risk from so-called 'uncontrolled landings' that enable migrants to evade the normal checks for small-boat arrivals.

It was one of two boats that reached Britain last week without being intercepted by the Border Force. A boat carrying five migrants landed undetected at The Warren, a rocky stretch of coast near Folkestone, on Monday. All five were detained.

The MoS understands there is no evidence to suggest the Russian national was a spy or saboteur and that Border Force officers are investigating whether he could have been attempting to dodge being called up to the army to fight in Ukraine.

Counter Terrorism Policing South East last night said they were aware of the incident but are not currently investigating. The Home Office refused to comment.

It comes two months after claims that individuals with links to Iran's intelligence agencies had been intercepted by UK authorities while attempting to enter Britain on small boats.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to the Border Security Command compound in Dover, Kent, from a Border Security Command vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel (File image)

People smugglers working on the Continent reportedly told the Telegraph that the Iranian regime facilitated the passage to Britain of migrants living at Calais in exchange for a 'favour' for Iran after they settled in England.

Meanwhile, The Mail on Sunday last year revealed how Abu Wadee, an alleged Palestinian militant who has called for the slaughter of all Jews and posed with AK-47s, was one of 235 migrants picked up by Border Force in Kent. He was later jailed for nine months for illegally entering the UK on a dinghy.

Security experts said the latest incident again exposes how terrorists, criminals or spies could sneak into the country via small boats.

Colonel Philip Ingram, a former Army intelligence officer, said: 'I am certain that there are an awful lot more boats that we are not intercepting and not knowing about.

'Those will be used by organised crime gangs, by terrorist organisations and hostile intelligence services to get people into the country for nefarious activities.

'There isn't a ban on Russian nationals coming into the country but it is interesting that a Russian national has felt that they have to come across on a small boat, which suggests to me that there is something there that they didn't want found out by going through Passport control.

'What concerns me is the motivation for spending a significant sum of money to get a place in a very dangerous little boat to come across the Channel rather than by coming in through legitimate means.'

In a statement last week Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood MP said the arrival of the unescorted boats was 'not acceptable'.

She added: 'Our improved monitoring has led to uncontrolled crossings becoming incredibly rare. But even one is one too many. 

'That is why I have ordered an urgent review by the Border Security Command into how this happened, and what must be done to ensure it doesn't happen again.'

Daniel Mitov, a senior minister in the Bulgarian Government, last year said his government had evidence that Russia's foreign intelligence service had direct links with the criminal gangs facilitating illegal immigration into the European Union.

He said Russian spies were helping people smugglers find weaknesses in the EU's borders and were telling migrants how to exploit EU and UK asylum systems and avoid removal.