‘Our democracy is our strength,’ MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore said as he warned of Russian subterfuge - British Embassy Paris via AP

‘Our democracy is our strength,’ MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore said as he warned of Russian subterfuge - British Embassy Paris via AP

The Telegraph: The head of MI6 has said a “staggeringly reckless campaign of Russian sabotage” has been uncovered in Europe.

Speaking at the British embassy in Paris, Sir Richard Moore said Russia was trying to “sow fear about the consequences of aiding Ukraine and challenge Western resolve in so doing”.

It comes after a DHL plane crash in Lithuania on Monday which officials suspect was a “hybrid” attack – meaning aggressive actions short of actual war, such as sabotage.

The plane was flying from Leipzig to Lithuania when it crashed in Vilnius, killing one crew member and leaving three others injured.

Marywilska 44 shopping centre in Warsaw is destroyed by a massive fire. Russian involvement is suspected - Dariusz Borowicz/Reuters

Earlier this year, incendiary devices caused fires at DHL facilities in Leipzig, Germany, and in BirminghamRussia is suspected of being behind the incidents.

Suspicions were also raised about a massive fire that destroyed Warsaw’s largest shopping centre in May. It is “likely” that Russia was involved, Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, said at the time.

Germany blamed sabotage for the severing of two undersea internet cables last week.

Boris Pistorius, the defence minister, said that “nobody believes these cables were accidentally severed” after the Finnish owner of the C-Lion1 data cable announced that it had been cut.

In his speech, Sir Richard said: “We have recently uncovered a staggeringly reckless campaign of Russian sabotage in Europe, even as Putin and his acolytes resort to nuclear sabre-rattling. Such activity and rhetoric is dangerous and beyond irresponsible.”

A CCTV image of the moment the DHL cargo plane crashed in Lithuania. Below, part of the engine of the craft is seen on the ground - Michael Sohn/AP; Lukas Balandis/Reuters

 

DHL cargo plane wreckage

Speaking on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Italy, Germany’s Annalena Baerbock referred to the DHL cargo plane crash, saying: “Our Lithuanian partners must now seriously ask ourselves whether this was an accident or another hybrid incident that shows what volatile times we are living in in the middle of Europe.”

Giving the inaugural Entente Cordiale lecture alongside his opposite number in the French external intelligence agency, Sir Richard said that in his 37-year career, he had “never seen the world in a more dangerous state”.

“The impact on Europe – our shared European home – could hardly be more serious,” he warned.

“If Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state, he will not stop there. Our security – British, French and transatlantic – will be jeopardised.

“The cost of supporting Ukraine is well-known, but the cost of not doing so would be infinitely higher.

“If Putin succeeds, China would weigh the implications, North Korea would be emboldened and Iran would be still more dangerous.”

Nicolas Lerner, the head of the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), France’s MI6 equivalent, warned the current situation in Europe could be “the turning point in our common history”.

Marking 120 years of the Entente Cordiale which, although not a formal alliance, ended centuries of conflict between the UK and France and set the path for a stronger Anglo-French relationship, Mr Lerner sought to “remind those who would doubt or contest the binding links between our two countries”.

“France and Great Britain are standing side by side in all the major crises shaking our planet,” he said.

Sir Richard, who goes by the title “C” – meaning Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) or MI6 – said: “SIS and DGSE intelligence has been critical to calibrating risk and informing the decisions of our respective governments so they can navigate successfully Putin’s mix of bluster and aggression.”

He said Putin was “jeopardising Russia’s future” through continuing his “catastrophic conflict” in Ukraine, highlighting the “transactional nature” of the relationship between Moscow, Beijing, Tehran and Pyongyang.

“There is no real trust or respect,” he warned. “Its roots are shallow [and] there are limits to the partnership.

“Russia should avoid the classic error of the authoritarian state, which confuses the splendidly irreverent clash and thunder of democracy with weakness and irresolution. Our democracy is our strength.”

Sir Richard also said British spies were taking “covert action” against Russia to defeat Vladimir Putin and likened intelligence activity today in Ukraine to the “secret war” fought in the Second World War against Nazi Germany.

“We cherish our heritage of covert action, which we keep alive today in helping Ukraine resist the Russian invasion,” he said.

Highlighting the “vital partnerships” between the UK, France and America, Sir Richard said the allies’ “collective strengths will outmatch and outlast Putin’s morally bankrupt axis of aggression”.

In only a brief nod to the impending inauguration of Donald Trump as 57th US president, on Jan 20, Sir Richard said he had worked successfully with the first Trump administration, “and look forward to doing so again”.

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