Russia UK threat warning, The director general of MI5, Ken McCallum, has issued a warning, pointing out an unprecedented and linked threat confronting the UK: Russia is deliberately attempting to generate “sustained mayhem” on European and British streets. In a rare public address, McCallum disclosed that during the previous year, MI5 has seen a 48% increase in state-threat investigations, with Russia using both state actors and private proxies to carry out espionage, sabotage, and more dangerous operations.
According to McCallum, since the invasion of Ukraine, more than 750 Russian diplomats—many of them spies—have been banished from Europe, undermining Russia’s intelligence services. Additionally, he made note of the fact that MI5 had responded to 20 schemes backed by Iran that could have killed UK nationals since 2022.
While right-wing terrorism (25%) and Islamic extremism (75%) continue to get the majority of counterterrorism efforts, McCallum said that the number of young individuals becoming involved in online extremism is concerning, with 13% of those under investigation being under the age of 18, a threefold increase in only three years. Online radicalization, where anonymous links can occasionally result in real-world violence, is still a challenge for MI5.
In light of these combined threats, McCallum acknowledged the complexity of MI5’s task, noting that they are tackling terrorist threats alongside state-backed assassination and sabotage plots amidst the ongoing war in Europe.
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