UK must protect against Russian 'hybrid attacks', ex-national security adviser says
Lord Ricketts says more should be spent on improving the resilience of energy, transport, air traffic control and defence sites.
UK must guard against Russian 'hybrid attacks', ex-national security adviser says
The government needs to do more to shield key infrastructure from "hybrid attacks" by Russia, a former national security adviser has told the BBC.
Lord Ricketts said extra funding should go into the defence budget, along with stronger resilience for energy, transport and air traffic control.
He cautioned that hybrid attacks were becoming "more reckless, more dangerous" and could ultimately lead to people being killed.
His comments follow remarks from MI5 chief Sir Kevin McCallum, who said in his annual speech earlier this week that threats from foreign states, including Russia and Iran, had quadrupled over the past decade.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Lord Ricketts said ministers needed to alert the British public to what could lie ahead.
"Not only is [Russian President Vladimir] Putin trying to break morale in Ukraine, he's also trying to undermine morale in European countries," he said.
He said the head of MI5 had issued a stark warning that there could be worse to come in the form of hybrid attacks in the UK or elsewhere on Nato territory.
Asked about the effects of Russian disruption, Lord Ricketts said: "I'm not saying there's going to be industrial war with tanks rolling across the north German plain.
"But yes these hybrid attacks are getting more reckless, more dangerous...people are going to end up getting killed somewhere."
Hybrid attacks usually involve non-military tactics, such as hacking, in an effort to destabilise a country.
Moscow is suspected of being behind many such attacks in Europe since the war in Ukraine began, though it has consistently denied any involvement.
Alongside cyber-attacks, hybrid attacks can also involve sabotage attempts and campaigns to spread misinformation.
Lord Ricketts's warning follows US President Donald Trump blocking sanctions on Russia.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said the move "only encourages him [Putin] to keep attacking" Ukraine.
The former national security adviser, who also once led the Foreign Office, said the UK should concentrate on putting more effort into the coalition of the willing, rather than trying to serve as a bridge between Zelensky and Trump.
"I don't think in Trump's current mood there is any influence Britain can have in the short term," he said.
An increasing number of European leaders have warned that Russia could be preparing attacks to test their resolve to support Ukraine.
Last month, Germany said Russia was behind a drone attack on an airport in Leipzig, where an explosive failed to detonate near Ukrainian cargo planes.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned in September that the threat of hybrid attacks by Russia against Europe and France had grown more intense.