The Kremlin on Monday denied a press report that claimed Russian espionage had hacked the phone of Liz Truss, the former head of the British government, when she was foreign secretary, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

Responding to a question about what the Daily Mail newspaper wrote on Saturday, the spokesman for the Russian president, Dmytro Peskov, estimated that there was little in the press of Great Britain that deserved attention.

“Unfortunately, the British press lacks material that can be taken seriously. And we treat such publications as scandalous mass media,” said Peskov.

According to a Daily Mail article, Truss’ phone was hacked by agents suspected of working for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

They gained access to “top secret details” of negotiations with international allies and to private messages that Truss exchanged with his friend Kwasi Kwarteng, whom he later appointed as finance minister.

The British government is not commenting on reports of the hacking of Liz Truss’s phone

The spies downloaded the messages for almost a year, receiving information including about the war in Ukraine, such as details of arms shipments.

The Daily Mail claims that the act of hacking was discovered during the campaign for the election of the leader of the Conservative Party, after which Liz Truss became the prime minister.

He and Kwarteng would even put themselves at “potential risk of blackmail” by sending critical messages to then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The London government would not comment on personal security measures, but said it has “robust systems in place to protect against cyber threats”. Among other things, ministers receive regular security briefings and data protection guidance.

Truss resigned on October 20 after just a month and a half in office, becoming the shortest-serving prime minister in British history.