Michael Thomas Hancock is a UK politician and served as an independent Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South. In 2010 Russian connections of Mike Hancock came under the limelight after queries were raised about the extent to which he has in effect served as a lobbyist for Russia in the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe. Associates from the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly expressed that they were very concerned about Hancock’s pro-Russian opinions.
Hancock served as chairman of the All-Party Group on Russia until Labour’s Chris Bryant succeeded because he was supposed to be too tolerant towards Moscow:
“We were worried by Mike Hancock’s pro-Putin position. That is why I stood against him and expelled him. His research assistant, who delivered secretarial support to the body, was enraged and walked out.”
Mágyás Eörsi, the ex-chairman of the parliamentary assembly’s liberal group said that he and his colleagues were oftentimes “stunned” by the pro-Kremlin perspective taken by Hancock during parliamentary assembly discussions and amendments. He expressed that:
“I’m very sure that the Russians employ Michael quite deliberately. He is the most pro-Russian MP among all of the countries of Western Europe. You just have to read his address. When it came to debates on Putin, freedom of the media or the fighting with Georgia, Michael always supported Russia. According to him, Russia is a fully-fledged democracy.”
On 8 August 2010, Hancock’s parliamentary assistants, Russian national Katia Zatuliveter, and her friend were examined at Gatwick Airport to return from marking her 25th birthday in Croatia. Hancock had seated with Zatuliveter in Strasbourg where she functioned for the Council of Europe. She started as an aide to Hancock in 2008, after having been an intern at the House of Commons for a while and experiencing security vetting. Until Hancock was expelled as chairman of the All-Party Group on Russia in June 2010, Zatuliveter had been the group’s secretary, offering her direct access to all MPs with the most significant interest in Russia and legitimate grounds to liaise with the Russian authorities; according to sources at Westminster, Zatuliveter had access to Hancock’s private emails and virtually operated the UK-Russia group.
Reportedly, Zatuliveter had been caught by MI5 (UK Security Service) when surveillance connected her to another person with close ties to the Russian embassy in London; the latter was presumed of working for the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service.
On 4 December 2010, it was informed that Zatuliveter was facing deportation to Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre, after she was apprehended by the Metropolitan Police Service on behalf of MI5 and the Border and Immigration Agency on 2 December 2010, on apprehension of espionage, the police action having been endorsed by Home Secretary Theresa May. The incident occurred in the wake of the uncovering and ouster of ten Russian sleeper agents in the US in June 2010, including a young lady who had British citizenship, Anna Chapman.
