Listen to the article
By Sean Rayment
Britain’s top spy has warned that the front line against Russia is “everywhere”, urging the country to be ready for President Vladimir Putin’s “export of chaos” to continue until he is forced to change his methods.
In her first public speech since becoming “C”, Blaise Metreweli will say that the “front line is everywhere” as a result of Moscow’s use of hybrid warfare, including disinformation, sabotage and cyberattacks. She warned that the UK is entering an “age of uncertainty” as the rules of conflict are being rewritten by Russia and other hostile actors.
Metreweli is the first woman to lead the agency and, at 48, the youngest to be appointed to the role. She previously served as “Q”, director general of technology and innovation.
Speaking from inside MI6 headquarters in Vauxhall, central London, she described the acute threat posed by an “aggressive, expansionist and revisionist” Russia.
She said: “Putin should be in no doubt: our support is enduring. The pressure we apply on Ukraine’s behalf will be sustained.
“The export of chaos is a feature, not a bug, of the Russian approach to international engagement, and we should be ready for this to continue until Putin is forced to change his calculus.”
Analysts have referred to Moscow’s “export of chaos” strategy as one that involves deliberately manufacturing crises abroad and then leveraging them to extract concessions or divert the West’s attention and resources. This can include sending waves of migrants, deploying mercenaries to overseas conflicts, launching cyberattacks, acts of sabotage, information manipulation or flying aircraft into European airspace.
Metreweli believes traditional concepts of a front line are outdated, and that the way adversaries pursue their aims through disinformation and the “export of chaos” makes it more likely that the British public are already experiencing it first-hand.
Spies and military chiefs believe Putin’s war aims have not changed and that, despite continuing peace talks, he will not give up Ukraine unless he is forced to do so through sustained economic and military pressure.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the Chief of the Defence Staff, also issued a rallying cry to the nation in a speech calling for Britain to build its resilience in the face of growing threats and uncertainty.
He said that “the price of peace is increasing” and warned of a heightened probability of Russia invading a Nato country.
“The war in Ukraine shows Putin’s willingness to target neighbouring states, including their civilian populations, potentially with novel and destructive weapons,” Knighton said. “This threatens the whole of Nato, including the UK.”
The speeches from Metreweli and Knighton come as Sir Keir Starmer is due to fly to Berlin for an emergency summit with European leaders, President Volodymyr Zelensky and Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, in an attempt to persuade the United States to accept an alternative European peace plan for Ukraine.
Metreweli, who joined the service as a case officer in 1999, will describe the increasingly complex and interconnected nature of global threats, ranging from technological disruption and hybrid warfare to terrorism and information manipulation.
She will also stress the importance of “shared humanity” and “our ability to listen” amid a flurry of diplomatic activity, as the Trump administration pushes for a deal to end the war in Ukraine to be in place by Christmas.
She will say: “The defining challenge of the 21st century is not simply who wields the most powerful technologies, but who guides them with the greatest wisdom. Our security, our prosperity and our humanity depend on it.”
In his first annual speech at the Royal United Services Institute as head of the armed forces, Knighton will say there is a need for a “whole-of-society approach” to build “national resilience” in the face of escalating threats.
“The situation is more dangerous than I have known during my career, and the response requires more than simply strengthening our armed forces,” he is expected to say.
“A new era for defence doesn’t just mean our military and government stepping up — as we are — it means our whole nation stepping up. The Russian leadership has made clear that it wishes to challenge, limit, divide and ultimately destroy Nato.”
