No 10 urged to investigate targeting of MPs and others by Russian spies

Foreign Office minister Leo Docherty has told MPs a group linked to Russian intelligence has ‘selectively leaked and amplified the release of sensitive information’. Photograph: Parliament TV

Downing Street is facing calls for an inquiry after it revealed Russian state spies have targeted British MPs, peers, civil servants and journalists with cyber-attacks for the last eight years and were behind a hack that influenced the 2019 election.

The government summoned the Russian ambassador on Thursday to admonish Moscow over “sustained” attempts to meddle in UK politics since 2015. As a result, the Foreign Office imposed sanctions on two members of a hacking group called Star Blizzard, one of whom is named as a federal security services (FSB) officer.