The UK government has imposed sanctions on 18 Russian spies who it says are responsible for a long campaign of cyber attacks, assassination attempts and sabotage in Britain and other countries.
The UK alleges they were "spreading chaos and disorder” directly on the orders of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. It linked their activity to the war in Ukraine and said they were "running a campaign to destabilise Europe".
In separate action the European Union placed its "strongest sanctions" yet on Russia, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called "essential and timely".
They include a ban on transactions related to the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline and lowering a cap on the price at which Russian oil can be bought.
European allies hope to ratchet up the pressure on Russia to bring the three-year-long war in Ukraine to an end.
But former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Putin, said his nation’s economy would survive the sanctions and that Moscow will continue striking Ukraine "with increasing force".
Jane Hill presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Frank Gardner.
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