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The head of MI5 Ken McCallum has warned that Russia’s intelligence agency is on a mission to cause “mayhem on British streets.”
He said that Russian GRU agents have carried out “arson” with “sabotage” and “more dangerous actions” in the UK.
This comes as the UK are staunch supporters of Ukraine and the head of MI5 warned the UK is facing the most “complex” and “interconnected” threat ever seen in Britain.
Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine on 24 February 2022 more than 750 Russian diplomats have been expelled from Europe as the “great majority” were in fact spies, he said.
This subsequently affected Russia’s intelligence gathering ability across the UK and Europe who then turned to proxy group to do their “dirty work.”
There has been a total of 43 plots since 2017, involving explosives and firearms foiled at a late-stage intent on committing “mass murder” across the UK.
McCallum said that since 2022 the Security Service has responded to 20 plots which were backed by Iran.
He added there were a “dizzying range of beliefs and ideologies” the Security Service has had to deal with.
“The first 20 years of my career here were crammed full of terrorist threats. We now face those alongside state-backed assassination and sabotage plots, against the backdrop of a major European land war.”
The general secretary expressed his concern the number of young people under the age of 18 who are involved in terrorism which has seen a threefold increase over the past three years.
McCallum said the counter-terrorism work is split between “75% Islamist extremism, 25% extreme right-wing terrorism.”
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