Russia is a bigger threat to UK security than ISIS, warns British Army chief
The new army chief General Mark Carleton-Smith believes the defeat of ISIS and al-Qaeda means Russia now poses a bigger threat to British security
RUSSIA is “indisputably” a bigger threat to the UK than Islamist extremists like ISIS, the new army chief has warned.
Chief of the General Staff, Gen Mark Carleton-Smith, 54, believes the security landscape has changed as Russia is targeting the UK in unconventional ways such as cyber and space warfare, not just a military threat.
Speaking during a visit to British troops in Estonia, he said: “Russia today indisputably represents a far greater threat to our national security than Islamic extremist threats such as al-Qaeda and Isil.
“Russia has demonstrated that it is prepared to use military force to secure and expand its own national interests. The Russians seek to exploit vulnerability and weakness wherever they detect it.”
He believes crushing defeats of ISIS and al-Qaeda mean the biggest threat to British security has changed.
He told : “The physical manifestation of the Islamist threat has diminished with the complete destruction of the geography of the so-called caliphate.
“Russia has embarked on a systematic effort to explore and exploit Western vulnerabilities, particularly in some of the non-traditional areas of cyber, space, undersea warfare.
“We cannot be complacent about the threat Russia poses or leave it uncontested. The most important conventional military response to Russia is the continued capabilities and coherence of the NATO alliance.”
The new boss also blasted plans for a European army to rival NATO.
He said: “I would not support any initiative that diluted the military effectiveness of NATO.
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“NATO represents the fundamental gravity of European security. It has been an extraordinarily successful alliance and, in my experience, we should reinforce success.”
Recently, Russian trolls were exposed for targeting British youngsters by using fake celebrity posts to brainwash them, a report stated.
Russia also sparked international outrage over its targeting of Sergei Skripal and his daughter by trying to poison them with Novichok in Salisbury.