LONDON: The UK defence ministry said on Tuesday that it was looking into a purported Russian intrusion into its computer systems that targeted more than 100 army recruits.

According to the Daily Mail, the breach was “feared to have been a Russian agent” with the purpose of targeting the recruits “as potential agents in the British Army.”

The event, according to armed forces minister James Heappey, was “a very terrible reflection on our own IT.”

Heappey told LBC radio that the ministry has “ordered an immediate examination of our IT security as a result.”

According to the Mail, the ministry discovered that the personal details of 124 army recruits had been fraudulently obtained, but “hundreds more are likely to be at risk.”

The army suspended access to its online application site in mid-March as a result of the event.

The claim comes after the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing network, which includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, warned last week that Russia was planning strong cyberattacks against competitors backing Ukraine.

The allies claimed they had received intelligence of cyberattacks targeting NATO nations providing Ukraine with weaponry, as Moscow was compelled to redirect its effort away from Kyiv.

Heappey retaliated after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned of the “real” possibility of World War III erupting ahead of a US-led summit in Germany on Tuesday to discuss delivering more armaments to Ukraine.

The British minister told Sky News that Russian claims that NATO’s activities triggered its invasion were “utter, utter nonsense.”

“Sergei Lavrov might also reflect that the reason there is a war in Ukraine right now is because Russia rolled over the borders of a sovereign country and started to invade their territory,” he added.

[embedpost slug= “russias-wagner-squad-captured-by-mali-jihadists/”]