Britain just charged a Royal Navy sailor with spying for Russia
2 hours ago · 9 October 2026Share
A look-out in an exposed position on a Royal Navy warship in wintry conditions, January 1941. File photo. Beadell, S J (Lt), Royal Navy official photographer · Public domain
A Royal Navy sailor just got charged with trying to pass secrets to Russia.
His name is Teddy Stanley Greenidge Young. He's 24.
He showed up at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London this morning.
Two charges under the National Security Act 2023. One: preparing to disclose protected information. Two: obtaining, copying, recording or retaining protected information for a foreign power.
And here's the big one. He's the first member of the British armed forces ever charged under that law.
So who is he? Young joined the Royal Navy in April 2024. He became a warfare intelligence rating, an Able Seaman role with high-level security clearance and access to intelligence systems.
The alleged offences happened between 26 November 2024 and 21 May 2025. That's while he was on his first deployment, on a Royal Navy warship. The deployment started 4 November 2024.
Prosecutors told the court Young accessed and retained sensitive UK defence and intelligence material while serving. And that he was preparing to pass protected information to a foreign power.
Now here's how he allegedly tried to do it. The dark web.
The court heard he drafted a message, translated it into Russian, and searched for a web portal that invites people to submit information to Russia. That message was allegedly trying to make contact with a potential threat actor.
Young was first arrested back on 21 May 2025. He was released on bail while the investigation continued. His security clearance was suspended straight away, and he was pulled off his duties.
Then this week, he was arrested again. This time at his home in Clapham, Bedfordshire, about 50 miles north of London.
The rest of this story is for members.
The entrance to the Westminster Magistrates Court, London. Photograph by Mike Peel ( mikepeel ). · CC BY-SA 4.0
The charges are too serious for a magistrates' court. So Young wasn't asked to enter a plea.
District Judge Annabel Pilling remanded him in custody. He's due back in court on 16 October, at the Old Bailey.
Commander Helen Flanagan runs Counter Terrorism Policing London. She says quote "these are very serious charges against a serving member of the armed forces". She says police worked closely with the Ministry of Defence throughout, to manage any risks.
The Royal Navy says it would be inappropriate to comment further while legal proceedings are ongoing.
One thing police have ruled out. This case is not connected to the investigation into three suspicious vans found near RAF Fairford in late September, which led to seven men being arrested. That inquiry is separate, and it's still going.
And this isn't the only Russia-linked spying case in Britain lately. Back in September 2025, UK police arrested three people suspected of spying for Russia.
It's not just Britain either. In August this year, Australian police charged a dual Russian-Australian citizen over an alleged attempt to pass Ukrainian military information to people linked to Russian intelligence.
So what don't we know? How much material Young allegedly accessed. Whether any of it reached Russian intelligence. How far the wider investigation goes. There's no word yet from Young himself, or from a lawyer representing him.
This case lands more than four years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Britain has spent that war supplying weapons, training and intelligence to Kyiv.
A serving sailor with intelligence access, allegedly trying to reach Russian authorities, in the middle of that war. That's exactly the kind of case the National Security Act 2023 was written for.
For now, the next moment that matters is 16 October. That's when Young is back in court, at the Old Bailey.
Nothing here was paid for by an advertiser. Members are the entire business model. Bronze is where it starts, and it opens the last seven days in full.
