Britain is in a “gray war” with Russia, but neither the authorities nor the public are taking the situation seriously enough, warned the former head of the famous spy agency MI6, Richard Dearlove.
Britain’s military is not getting enough money to counter the “threats” posed by Moscow and Beijing, said Richard Dearlove, who headed Britain’s secret intelligence service between 1999 and 2004.
The statement followed last week’s announcement of Britain’s budget for the next financial year, which saw no increase in defense spending. It still amounts to two percent of the country’s GDP.
“If you stopped anyone in the street here in Britain and asked them if they thought Britain was at war, they would look at you like you were crazy. But we are at war – we are engaged in a gray war with Russia, and I try to remind people of that “, said the former head of British spies.
The British authorities “have to make some tough decisions, and I’m afraid the tough decisions are right now in front of us. We should be spending at least 2.5 percent on defense,” Dearlove believes.
He added that Britain urgently needs to build more ships.
“We need a much bigger navy. And we need more boots on the ground, for God’s sake,” Dearlove stressed.
The battles between Russia and Ukraine showed the importance of manpower on the modern battlefield, said the 79-year-old. The size of the British Army has been reduced by more than 26,000 since 2006 and it currently has just over 74,000 full-time troops.
Last month, Kremlin Secretary Dmitry Peskov accused theUnited Kingdom (UK) of being “directly involved” in the conflict between Moscow and Ukraine. He was reacting to a report in The Times which claimed that the head of the British armed forces, Admiral Tony Radakin, “helped the Ukrainians in their strategy to destroy Russian ships and open up the Black Sea”.
According to Peskov, it is “no secret” for Moscow that the British “provide various forms of support” to Kyiv, such as “people on the ground and intelligence”.
In February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Britain had been “even more aggressive, more elaborate in its provocative assertiveness” towards Moscow than any other Western nation during the conflict.
Britain has been one of Ukraine’s leading financiers in Europe since fighting began more than two years ago, pledging $15.2 billion in total support to Kyiv, including $9 billion in military aid, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
