How did this 23-year-old Russian woman whose family had links to the Kremlin get a role in an influential British security body?
- Anastasia Spiridonova, 23, was made a director of British security body
- The Russian’s family had direct connections to Vladimir Putin’s regime
- After two months she was asked by the board to resign from her position
A Russian woman whose family had links to the Kremlin was forced to quit as a board member of an influential British security body amid concerns about her background, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Anastasia Spiridonova, 23, was made a director of the Security Institute, the UK’s largest professional membership body for security professionals, which has close ties to Westminster and whose members include intelligence officers, senior police and military.
But concerns were raised by some board members about her past and how her appointment might be publicly perceived following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
‘The board was split and there were ructions, but she eventually agreed to step down in June after less than two months,’ said a source. ‘It was very embarrassing.’
Anastasia Spiridonova was made a director of the Security Institute despite her family’s previous connections to the Kremlin
The 23-year-old was elected to be a voluntary non-executive director of the British security board, but then two months later she was asked to reign
Enquiries in Russia by this newspaper and the investigative website National Security News found that Ms Spiridonova, who speaks six languages and is described by several colleagues as ‘exceptionally charming’, is connected to the Putin regime through members of her family. Her grandfather was an MP in Putin’s United Russia party, while her mother Marina worked at the Kremlin in a department running resort hotels and presidential retreats around Russia.
Meanwhile, Ms Spiridonova’s father, Grigory Bryukhov, was once president of Intourist, the privatised successor of the giant Soviet travel agency that was notoriously riddled with KGB spies.
After spending her early years in Moscow, Ms Spiridonova moved to the UK. She was educated at £40,000-a-year Sevenoaks School in Kent and studied modern languages at Stanford University in the US.
While at Stanford in 2019 she began applying for internships in the UK. An article in the Security Institute’s in-house newspaper said she wanted ‘to gain an insight into the legal or security sectors, and was particularly interested in experiencing work within the world of criminal, civil and corporate investigations’. But it added: ‘What she was not expecting… was to be accidentally copied into an email by the HR department of a large law firm with one comment on her application: “Sounds like a spy to me.”’
Security Institute is the UK’s largest professional membership body for security professionals and has close ties to Westminster
Ms Spiridonova’s grandfather was an MP in Putin’s United Russia party, while her mother Marina worked at the Kremlin
She eventually got a job with a detective firm and joined the Security Institute, which boasts establishment credentials. Its patron is Princess Anne and its president is a member of the House of Lords.
A former president, Lord Carlile, was described as having astonishing access to Britain’s secret state as the ‘independent reviewer of terrorism legislation’ and later put his expertise to lucrative new use by going into the international consultancy business with former MI6 chief Sir John Scarlett.
According to its website, membership of the institute ‘bestows credibility, enhances career prospects, provides a valuable network of contacts’ and offers ‘fantastic networking opportunities’.
Companies House records show that Ms Spiridonova changed her nationality from Russian to British on June 7, 2022. She resigned from the Security Institute board on June 23, having joined in April.
Ms Spiridonova said last night: ‘I was elected by the members of the Security Institute to be a voluntary non-executive director. I was then asked by the board to resign from my directorship position. In doing so, they acknowledged that this was no reflection on me as a person and that I was not at fault in any way. The reasoning for their decision is for them to explain, if they wish to.
‘It was an extremely upsetting time, especially as I have thoroughly enjoyed my journey as part of the institute. I always stated I would not go to the press about this. As I have been approached, I am simply commenting on the facts and reserving my personal opinion on this matter to myself.
‘I have always been transparent about my country of birth, heritage and international upbringing.’
The Security Institute said it had ‘a number of voluntary directors who are voted in by our members. All of our directors go through a process of vetting. We do not comment on individual cases.’
Friends insisted neither Anastasia nor her family had any ties to the current regime in Russia.
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