Russian hybrid threat stretches MI5 after 1,000 expulsions

MI5 chief Ken McCallum said Tuesday in a London annual speech that Russia remains Britain's top state threat after almost 1,000 expulsions since Moscow's February 2022 invasion, a Euronews news article reported.

In the same Tuesday speech, McCallum said Iran-linked operations had produced more than 50 arrests over the past year, placing Russia and Iran near the center of Britain's security agenda.

McCallum, director general of Britain's domestic intelligence service, described Moscow as "aggressor number one" and said Russian military gains in Ukraine were "minimal and horrifically costly." He linked that battlefield position to what he described as wider Russian activity against European countries.

"The Russian military and intelligence services are once again escalating their attempts at hybrid warfare, being careful to stay below the NATO Article 5 threshold, which would be foolish for them to cross," McCallum said. Article 5 is NATO's collective-defense clause, under which an attack on one ally may be treated as an attack on all.

Several European governments have accused Russia of involvement in recent hybrid incidents, a term used for covert or deniable actions below the level of open armed conflict. Germany blamed Russia for an August drone incident at Leipzig/Halle airport, while Estonia said Russian special services ordered an August arson attack targeting defence company Milrem Robotics.

McCallum said Russia was using intermediaries because its covert networks had been damaged by expulsions since the invasion of Ukraine. "With its traditional covert footprint eviscerated by almost 1,000 expulsions since the invasion, the Kremlin's global toolkit is weak. So, we see them scrambling to pay criminals to do their bidding," he said.

The comments put intelligence pressure alongside Britain's Ukraine policy. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the UK will keep supporting Kyiv "100%" despite Russian warnings of "consequences," and said last week that his government would go further with sanctions on Russia.

McCallum also singled out Iran, saying Tehran was another state trying to outsource violence in Britain and seeking to broaden its campaign. He said Iran-linked operations had led to more than 50 arrests over the past year.

"Today, we continue to see familiar Iranian intent, using criminal proxies to try to intimidate oppositionists, Iranian media organisations, and Israeli sites," McCallum said. He added that much of the aggression had affected British Jewish communities and that Iran was also looking at "harder targets, like military sites."

Burnham told parliament on Monday that an incident at RAF Fairford, a UK airbase that houses part of the US Air Force, was "almost certainly directed" by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Seven men connected to the RAF Fairford investigation remain on police bail, UK Counter Terrorism Policing said. Five men were arrested near the Gloucestershire base on Sept. 27 on suspicion of explosives offences and later on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act; two other men were arrested in London on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts and were also released on bail.

UK Counter Terrorism Policing said specialist teams "continue to pursue all lines of enquiry."