Signal
Submitted
Apr 28, 2026, 15:29 UTC
MI5 warns Russia is increasingly using criminals to carry out sabotage and espionage in London and Europe, aiming to cause chaos and weaken Western resolve in the Ukraine war.
On 8 October 2024, MI5 chief Ken McCallum warned that Russian spies seek to create sustained chaos on streets across Britain and Europe by increasingly deploying criminal proxies for sabotage activities. Despite diplomatic expulsions weakening Russia's intelligence, the Russian GRU continues reckless attacks, including a recent arson in March 2024 on a Ukrainian company in London led by seven accused individuals. MI5 also thwarted 20 Iran-supported lethal plots since 2022. McCallum highlighted the grave challenge posed by overlapping terrorist threats and espionage. Additionally, he raised alarms over a threefold rise in terror investigations involving minors, driven by online extremism.
Confidence: High
The article explicitly reports on hostile Russian espionage and sabotage activities in the UK and Europe, naming GRU as the perpetrator and MI5 actions in response. It details concrete incidents and charges, plus intelligence assessments.
Source URL
https://tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/russland-chaos-strassen-geheimdienst-100.html
Source reliability
A
Info credibility
6
Event time
Oct 8, 2024, 17:50 UTC
Event time confidence
exact
Location
London
Region
Greater London
Primary actor
GRU
Country
United Kingdom
Countries
United Kingdom
Tags
russian intelligence operations, GRU, MI5, Sabotage, Arson, UK security, Iran plots, Youth extremism, Terrorism investigations
Nodes
Node 1: Borders, Node 2: 5th Column