Two men and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of assisting the Russian intelligence service.
The Metropolitan Police said they were detained in Essex as part of a counter-terror investigation.
A 41-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman were arrested at an address in Grays, Essex.
A 46-year-old man was arrested at a separate address in the Grays area.
They were taken to a London police station and held under the National Security Act.
Officers searched the two Essex addresses and all three have now been released on conditional bail while the investigation continues.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of counter-terrorism command, said police were seeing “an increasing number of who we would describe as ‘proxies’ being recruited by foreign intelligence services”.
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He cited the case of two Britons waiting to be sentenced after being recruited to carry out an arson at Ukrainian-linked warehouse.
“They are facing potentially lengthy custodial sentences,” said Commander Murphy. “Although, to be clear, today’s arrests are in no way connected to that investigation.
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