Russian spy hired by Lib-Dem defence boss

Russian spy hired by Lib-Dem defence boss ; A RUSSIAN who worked in the House of Commons as an assistant to a Lib Dem MP is facing deportation as a suspected spy. Katia Zatuliveter, 25, was arrested and taken into custody on the orders of MI5 with the approval of the Home Secretary.

She worked for Mike Hancock, who is a member of the Commons Defence select committee. The MP, whose Portsmouth South constituency has extensive Royal Navy interests, had flatly denied that Zatuliveter is a spy. She was vetted before taking up her Commons post in 2008. After being arrested by police and UK Border Agency officials, she was taken to a secure unit awaiting deportation.

Hancock said Zatuliveter has a working visa and intends to appeal against deportation.

He said: ""She is not a Russian spy. I know nothing about espionage but she has been subjected to a deportation order. "Nobody has shown me any evidence that she is in any way a threat to the United Kingdom."

Hancock added: "She is determined to fight her corner and she genuinely believes - and I back her 100 per cent - that she has nothing to hide and has done nothing wrong." It is alleged that Zatuliveter was working for the SVR, the Russian foreign intelligence service that took over from the KGB after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

A security source said: "Her presence is not considered to be conducive to national security. "There was unhappiness about what she could have access to. The intention is to show her the door."

Hancock first met Zatuliveter in Strasbourg, France, where he often travels on business related to his position on the Council of Europe. She came to the UK three years ago to study for a masters degree at Bradford University before starting work as a researcher in Hancock's parliamentary office in the House of Commons.

Suspicions over Zatuliveter were first f lagged up in August when she was stopped at Gatwick airport after a holiday in Russia. She was detained and questioned over her activities for Hancock.

Zatuliveter was also questioned earlier this year by MI5 spooks who were said to be investigating possible Russian "sleeper cells" in Britain. And she was reportedly quizzed about her relationship with a NATO figure.

The latest case raises MI5 fears that Russian spies are targeting MPs in Westminster and Whitehall civil servants. Russia has up to 35 known intelligence officers working in the UK. But there are claims that there are dozens of others working undercover in industry and politics.

Ten Russian sleeper agents, including Anna Chapman, who lived in the UK for five years, were deported from the US in July. MI5 chief Jonathan Evans has publicly protested about the risk from UK-based Russian spies.

And WikiLeaks revelations last week showed that the British and Russian secret services stopped co-operating on terrorism and other issues after the death of dissident Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London four years ago. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today

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