MI5 Chief Warns of Russia's Intelligence Plotting “Mayhem” on UK and European Streets

Ken McCallum, the Director General of the Security Service (MI5), has warned of threats emanating from Russia's GRU . He stated that Russia seeks to generate “sustained mayhem” on British and European streets by resorting to sabotage, arson and other dangerous actions.

McCallum reported that while giving his annual update on security threats faced by the UK.

According to the Director General of MI5, the UK’s leading role in supporting Ukraine means that Britain looms “large in the fevered imagination of Putin’s regime”.

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European countries expelled over 750 Russian diplomats, the vast majority of whom were spies, according to McCallum. This led to a decline in the professionalism of Russian operations, as they began relying on private agents and criminals to carry out their activities. McCallum also highlighted that following Russia's full-scale invasion, GRU agents had carried out "arson, sabotage and more dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness."

McCallum additionally stated that MI5 has responded to 20 Iran-backed plots since 2022, noting that the majority of the agency's efforts remain focused on Islamist extremism, followed by far-right terrorism.

"The first 20 years of my career here were crammed full of terrorist threats,” McCallum said. "We now face those alongside state-backed assassination and sabotage plots, against the backdrop of a major European land war."

European countries, particularly those providing military aid to Ukraine, have been targeted by Russia in efforts to destabilize them.

At the beginning of September, Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution issued a warning about increased cyberattacks conducted by a Russian military intelligence unit.

Previously, the Netherlands, along with seven other EU countries, has also advocated for restrictions on the travel of Russian diplomats within the European Union. This push stems from concerns that many Russian diplomats may be covert agents engaged in influence operations.