Russia seeks to unleash “mayhem on British and European streets,” Britain’s MI5 counterintelligence chief Ken McCallum said at a briefing in London, according to the country’s BBC public broadcaster.
The threat posed is the most challenging in Britain’s history, he added.
Specifically, Russian intelligence services are constantly trying to undermine security in Britain and Europe through arson, sabotage, and other actions, McCallum said, without providing additional details.
An example cited was a trial that began in London earlier this month for those accused of setting fire to a building owned by Ukrainian businessmen.
“According to the prosecution, they [the suspects] acted on behalf of the Russian private military company Wagner,” BBC reported.
Additionally, since 2022, counterintelligence has managed to uncover 20 plots organized with the support of Iran, McCallum said. Tehran, along with Moscow, is using various proxies, including organized crime, to carry out “their dirty work,” he added.
Since 2017, 43 potential attacks in Britain, which were in their late stages of planning, have been thwarted. McCallum also had a message for those willing to work for hostile states.
“If you take money from Iran, Russia or any other state to carry out illegal acts in the UK, you will bring the full weight of the national security apparatus down on you. It’s a choice you’ll regret,” he said.
Cover: Yui Mok/PA
