War with Russia is already on Britain’s doorstep as evidenced by cyber-attacks, sabotage, arson, and other hostile activity orchestrated by President Vladimir Putin, a former head of MI5 declared.
Eliza Manningham-Buller, who led the domestic spy agency two decades ago, says she agrees with analysts who caution Moscow was at war with the west as its Communist allies show similar intent in inviting World War III.
The Guardian reports Lady Manningham-Buller argued the situation had changed “since the invasion of Ukraine and the various things I read about that the Russians have been doing here – sabotage, intelligence collection, attacking people and so on”.
Speaking on a podcast in which she was interviewed by the lord speaker, John McFall, she then referenced Russia expert Fiona Hill, who advised President Donald Trump during his first term as U.S. president and co-authored the UK’s strategic defence review. She explained:
I think she may be right in saying we’re already at war with Russia. It’s a different sort of war, but the hostility, the cyber-attacks, the physical attacks, the intelligence work is extensive.
The Guardian notes Pat McFadden, erstwhile Cabinet Office minister, said last year Russia had stepped up its cyber-attacks against the UK.
Hackers have targeted a string of British businesses. While the source of the attacks can take time to detect, many are suspected to have originated in Russia.
All that has been played out alongside Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Wider elements of the UK defence infrastructure appear to be already operating on the assumption war with Russia will come sooner rather than later.
As Breitbart London reported, in June Whitehall confirmed it will revive and update the Cold War-era Government War Book, a detailed plan for dealing with an attack on the nation by a foreign power — Russia, in other words — for the first time in decades.
Of particular concern, it is said, are Ukraine war-style strikes against Britain’s critical national infrastructure, such as a conventional missile strike against the nation’s nuclear power plants.
Pollster YouGov previously revealed fresh research conducted as part of a series to measure the public mood on the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, found large numbers of citizens in Western countries feel “World War 3 is likely in the next 5-10 years.”
Tensions between Europe and Russia was seen as the biggest threat to peace, followed closely by Islamism.
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