LONDON: Britain on Thursday risked worsening fraught diplomatic ties with Russia by accusing Moscow-linked hackers of targeting labs conducting coronavirus vaccine research.

The government pointed the finger at the Kremlin after the country's cyber-security agency said a hacking group called APT29 was "almost certainly" linked to Russian intelligence.

In a separate claim, London said "Russian actors" sought to disrupt last year's UK general election by circulating leaked trade documents between Britain and the United States.

Both accusations came even before the publication in the coming days of a long-awaited parliamentary report into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit vote.