Swindon Man Charged With Helping Russian Military Intelligence Group

A 31-year-old man from Swindon has been charged under the National Security Act with helping a group controlled by Russian military intelligence, after allegedly gathering information about drone manufacturing sites in the Wiltshire town.

Joshua Cammidge, a British national, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday 10 September and was remanded in custody. The Crown Prosecution Service announced the charges the previous evening.

The charges

Mr Cammidge faces two offences under the National Security Act 2023:

• engaging in conduct intended to materially assist a foreign intelligence service in carrying out UK-related activities, contrary to section 3; and
• intending to commit an act of sabotage and engaging in conduct in preparation for it, contrary to section 18.

Prosecutors allege that he communicated with, and received instructions from, a person believed to be linked to the GRU Volunteer Corps, an organisation run by Russia's military intelligence agency.

It is alleged that between 27 March and 5 September this year he supplied screenshots from an online mapping service showing the addresses of four drone manufacturing sites in Swindon, and passed on details about activity at one of those factories.

Arrest and investigation

He was arrested at an address in Swindon on Friday 4 September by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing London, supported by Wiltshire Police. The following day he was further arrested under the National Security Act on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service. Officers also carried out searches at a second address in the town.

Frank Ferguson, Chief Crown Prosecutor of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said prosecutors had worked to establish that there was sufficient evidence to bring the case to court and that a prosecution was in the public interest.

The Security Minister, Dan Jarvis, said anyone trying to undermine Britain's security would "feel the full force of the law".

A group under scrutiny

The government designated the GRU Volunteer Corps a national security threat in July 2026, making support for it a criminal matter. Officials say the organisation gathers intelligence abroad and carries out covert operations on behalf of the GRU, the Russian agency blamed for the 2018 Salisbury nerve agent attack and linked to a series of sabotage operations across Europe.

Anyone convicted of assisting the group faces up to 14 years in prison.

Security officials have repeatedly warned that Moscow is trying to recruit people living in Britain to carry out surveillance and sabotage on its behalf. Defence manufacturing has become a sensitive area since the start of the war in Ukraine, and drone production in particular has taken on growing strategic importance.

What happens next

Mr Cammidge remains in custody. Offences of this seriousness can only be tried in the Crown Court, and the case is expected to be sent there for a preliminary hearing, at which a timetable towards a plea and trial will be set.

Counter Terrorism Policing London led the investigation, which was conducted with the support of Wiltshire Police. No other arrests have been announced in connection with the case.

Criminal proceedings are now active. Mr Cammidge has not entered a plea and is entitled to a fair trial, and nothing should be published that could prejudice the proceedings.

Image: Mike Peel via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0