Russia is a serious threat, the incoming MI6 chief said
MI6’s first female chief warns Russia poses a serious threat, citing hybrid warfare, cyberattacks and drones, as Britain vows pressure over Ukraine.
MI6's new chief, Blaise Metreveli, will later warn in her first public speech about the "serious threat posed by Russia."
She will emphasize so-called hybrid warfare, which includes incidents such as cyberattacks and drones launched by Russian agents near critical infrastructure.
Ms. Metreveli will describe it as "a serious threat posed by an aggressive, expansionist and revisionist Russia."
Referring to the war in Ukraine, she will stress that Britain will continue to put pressure on President Vladimir Putin on behalf of Ukraine.
Ms. Metreveli, who took over as head of the Secret Intelligence Service in the autumn, is the first woman to lead Britain's foreign intelligence agency. She took over from Sir Richard Moore on October 1.
Monday's speech will point to recent sanctions imposed on Russian entities accused of waging information warfare, as well as sanctions on two China-based companies for "indiscriminate cyber activities against Britain and its allies."
Western sanctions have certainly damaged Russia's economy, shifting its exports eastward towards China and India. But they have utterly failed to alter President Putin's resolve to wage war on Ukraine until it accepts his demands for territory and, ultimately, allegiance to Moscow.
It is also clear from Ms. Metreveli's speech that technology is a particular area of interest for the new spy chief.
Having joined MI6 in 1999, she has risen to this top position through the Q Branch. Named after the fictional MI6 division in Ian Fleming's spy novels, this is the real-life, in-house, top-secret part of the Secret Intelligence Service that designs gadgets and equipment that enable agents to communicate with their handlers without being detected or apprehended. Later in her speech, she is expected to call on all her intelligence officers to master technology, “not just in our labs, but in the field, in our tradecraft… We need to be as comfortable with lines of [computer] code as we are with human sources, as fluent in Python as we are in multiple languages.”
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The choice of Python, a programming language, as an example might surprise some, given that it has been around for more than three decades. But her point will not be lost on the men and women who have chosen to work in the clandestine world of espionage. At a time when data is paramount, when spies can no longer rely on false identities because biometric scanning can expose them in seconds at borders and checkpoints, MI6 needs to prove it is still relevant.
Meanwhile, the Chief of the Defence Staff, Sir Richard Knighton, will on Monday call for a “whole-of-society approach” to building national resilience in the face of growing threats and uncertainty.
In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute in London, Sir Richard is expected to say that defence and resilience should be a high priority for everyone, not just those in the military.
This is the latest in a series of warnings that Britain needs to be better prepared than it currently is to face growing threats.
Sir Richard is expected to say that the situation is far more dangerous than anything he has known in his entire career.
He will say that Russia has made it clear it wants to challenge, constrain, divide and ultimately destroy NATO.
Britain’s response must be far more than simply strengthening the armed forces. He will say that deterrence involves harnessing the power of Britain, from its universities to industry, rail networks and the NHS.
He will say, “A new era for defence doesn’t just mean our military and government stepping up – as we are doing – it means our whole country stepping up.” Addressing the skills gap highlighted in a recent Royal Academy of Engineering report, Sir Richard will speak about the need to work with industry and young people and will announce £50 million for new defence technology excellence colleges.
In recent weeks, both France and Germany have outlined plans for voluntary national service.
Last year, the then Conservative government put forward its own compulsory proposals, which Labour dismissed as a gimmick.
But the debate is intensifying about how the whole of Britain should respond in an increasingly uncertain world.
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