Joshua Cammidge remanded over alleged Russia drone plot

British man Joshua Cammidge was remanded in custody on Thursday after appearing in a London court on charges linked to an alleged plan to sabotage drone manufacturing sites on behalf of Russian military intelligence.

Cammidge, 31, from Swindon in southwest England, did not enter a plea. He is due to appear at London's Old Bailey court on September 25.

Prosecutors allege that Cammidge contacted a representative of Russia's military intelligence agency and shared Google map screenshots showing the locations of drone manufacturing sites in Swindon. According to the charges, he shared screenshots locating one drone factory and four drone manufacturing sites in the town.

He is charged under the UK's National Security Act with assisting a foreign intelligence service and carrying out a preparatory act. The charges cover the period from March 27 to September 5 and followed an investigation by counter-terrorism police.

The Crown Prosecution Service said Cammidge allegedly communicated with and received instructions from "an individual believed to be linked to the GRU Volunteer Corps, a group controlled by Russia's military intelligence agency". Prosecutors also allege that he volunteered to commit an act of sabotage, researched a Wi-Fi jamming device and carried out reconnaissance.

Britain is a close ally of Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022 after annexing Crimea in 2014. Relations between Britain and Russia were strained before the Ukraine war, including after the 2006 poisoning of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London and the 2018 attempted poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.