UK must step up its response to hostile Putin

Moscow is rebuilding spy networks and the head of its armed forces is calling for more cyberwarfare

The compelling evidence provided by British intelligence chiefs about Russia’s role in last year’s Salisbury poisoning was supposed to shame Russian President Vladimir Putin into adopting a less hostile approach towards the West.

That was certainly the aim of the global backlash Moscow suffered after it was revealed the Novichok poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia was carried out by two members of Russia’s elite GRU military intelligence agency.

The subsequent diplomatic demarche resulted in the expulsion of a total of 342 Russian “diplomats” stationed in 28 countries around the world, the largest concerted action taken against Moscow by the Western powers since the Cold War. While most of the Russians required to pack their bags were operating under diplomatic cover, they were in fact mostly undercover intelligence officers.

The carefully targeted action orchestrated by British officials succeeded in significantly degrading the Kremlin’s overseas intelligencegathering operations.

For most world leaders, suffering a humiliation of this magnitude would have prompted a serious rethink about their approach. Yet, rather than adopting a less confrontational tone, all the indications are that Mr Putin remains committed to undermining the West and its allies by all possible means.

The most telling insight of the Kremlin’s current thinking was provided earlier this week by General Valery Gerasimov, the head of Russia’s armed forces who is credited with developing the so-called Gerasimov Doctrine. This advocates the use of non-military actions, such as propagating fake news and hacking, to achieve Moscow’s political objectives.

Gen Gerasimov called on Russia to intensify its cyberwarfare operations against the West, arguing that information technologies are becoming some of the most promising weapons because they have the ability to act as a “remote, hidden influence”.

These are precisely the methods the Kremlin used to hack the Democratic Party during the 2016 US presidential election, and the fact that a senior ally of Mr Putin is openly calling for similar attacks to be carried out against other Western targets suggests the Kremlin has no intention of changing tack in the wake of Salisbury.

The Russians insist they have no option because of the threat they face from the United States, especially after the Trump administration’s recent decision to cancel the Intermediaterange Nuclear Forces Treaty.

The reality, though, is that Moscow, despite the setbacks it suffered post-salisbury, remains committed to undermining Western democracies, as well as their interests, by any means possible.

This would explain claims that the Kremlin is funding a group of Russian mercenaries in Libya fighting against the Western-backed Government of National Accord.

As the Russians clearly have no intention of changing their antagonistic attitude towards the West, it is vital that countries like Britain ensure they are doing enough to protect themselves, whether it means dealing with another Novichokstyle attack or other, less visible attempts to subvert our democratic values.

Certainly, after the initial flurry of diplomatic reprisals in the immediate aftermath of the Salisbury poisoning, there is a growing perception that Whitehall is reluctant to put further pressure on Moscow for fear of damaging lucrative trade ties.

This was an issue that is said to have particularly concerned Sir Charles Farr, the head of the Joint Intelligence Committee until his untimely death last month.

For example, he questioned why Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, an ally of Mr Putin, was still able to visit Britain freely to pursue his business interests, even though he is on the US sanctions list.

Sir Charles was also known to be highly critical of the Financial Conduct Authority for allowing EN+, the energy company owned by Mr Deripaska, to raise £1 billion on the London Stock Exchange in late 2017.

MPS on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee have also taken an interest in the Russian energy firm, holding a hearing on the issues surrounding it last week.

Given that Moscow has made it abundantly clear that it has no intention of relaxing its aggressive stance towards the West, Russia is a subject of intense interest for MPS and security officials alike.

There are now real concerns that, following the setbacks Moscow’s intelligence agencies suffered in the wake of the Salisbury attack, the Kremlin is actively seeking to rebuild its spying network in Britain. This is why it is vital that we continue to be vigilant about the evolving nature of the Russian threat, and ensure that Moscow’s attempts to launch further attacks against Britain and its allies are frustrated.

Otherwise it will not be too long before we will find ourselves having to deal with another Kremlin-inspired outrage on the streets of Britain.