(London) British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday "absolutely sure" of Moscow's involvement in cyberattacks to steal research on a coronavirus vaccine, an act "Reprehensible" denied by Russia.
France Media Agency
The United Kingdom, the United States and Canada on Thursday accused a group of Russian pirates, operating "almost certainly within the framework of the Russian intelligence services", of having attacked British organizations , Canadian and American to steal their research into the development of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.
"We are absolutely sure that the Russian intelligence agencies were involved in a cyber attack [...] in order to sabotage or profit from research and development" on a vaccine, assured Dominic Raab on the Sky News channel.
"At a time when the world is coming together to try to counter COVID - 19, in particular in order to find a global solution for a vaccine, I think it is scandalous and reprehensible that the Russian government is involved in this activity, "he added.
"We are going to hold Russia to account and make the world aware of the nature of (its) reprehensible behavior," he said.
These accusations were strongly denied by Russian Ambassador to London Andrei Kelin.
"I do not believe at all in this story, it makes no sense", he said in an interview broadcast on the BBC on Sunday, claiming to have heard for the first time about these pirates through UK media.
It is impossible to attribute acts of hacking to a particular country, he also argued.
Andrei Kelin also denied claims by the British government that "Russian actors" sought to disrupt the legislative elections last December by circulating during the campaign documents on a possible trade deal between London and Washington after Brexit.
Relations between London and Moscow are at their lowest since the poisoning on British soil of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal, in the city of Salisbury (south-west), attributed to Russia.
The latter denied any involvement, but the affair had led to a wave of cross-border expulsions of diplomats between London and its allies and Moscow.
The Russian ambassador, however, assured that his country was ready to "turn the page" and "do business" with the United Kingdom.