UK Defence Chief Warns Nation Must Prepare for Conflict as Russia Poses Increasing Security Threat

Britain has repeatedly expressed concerns about the Russian threat to national security.

On Monday, the newly appointed head of Britain's armed forces cautioned that "more" citizens would need to prepare for potential military service due to an increasingly volatile global landscape.

Richard Knighton's statements came as MI6's new chief independently declared that Russia had pushed the world into an "age of uncertainty."

"The current situation presents greater dangers than I've witnessed throughout my military career, requiring more than just strengthening our defense forces," Knighton stated in his address.

"This new defense era demands not only that our military and government increase their preparedness—which we are doing—but that our entire nation rises to meet this challenge."

Knighton, who assumed the position of chief of defense staff in September, delivered these remarks during a presentation at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a defense-focused think tank.

He emphasized the need for "national resilience" against the "increasing" Russian threat to the UK, following Russia's nearly four-year military campaign in Ukraine that began with the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

"This means more citizens being prepared to defend their homeland," Knighton noted, adding that he wished to contribute to the discourse recently initiated by his French counterpart, Fabien Mandon, who suggested France must be prepared to "sacrifice its children."

While professional military forces will expand, Knighton explained that officials also anticipate "a substantial increase" in active reserves and cadet numbers.

"More families will understand what sacrifice for our nation entails," he added, announcing £50 million ($67 million) in funding for new "Defence Technical Excellence Colleges" to support defense employers in training personnel.

The UK has consistently warned about Russian threats, recently raising alarms after the government reported sightings of Russian military vessels near British waters and cited multiple cyberattack incidents.

Blaise Metreweli, the first female director of MI6 Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), highlighted in her inaugural speech on Monday the danger posed by an "aggressive, expansionist and revisionist" Russia.

Regarding the Ukrainian conflict, she stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin "is deliberately prolonging negotiations and transferring the war's burden onto his own citizens."

"Russia is operating in the grey zone with tactics that remain just below the threshold of formal warfare," she continued.

Metreweli detailed Moscow's efforts to "intimidate, spread fear, and manipulate" through cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure, drone operations near European airports, aggressive naval activities, and state-sponsored arson attacks.

"Globally, we now face not a single threat but an interconnected web of security challenges—military, technological, social, and ethical—each influencing the others in complex ways," she explained.

"We are operating in a space that exists between peace and war."

Metreweli, appointed in June as the 18th director of the service, is the only publicly identified member of the organization and reports directly to the foreign minister.

She warned about the increasingly sophisticated nature of global threats, noting that the "front line exists everywhere" due to cyber disruptions, hybrid warfare, "terrorism and information manipulation."

These addresses coincided with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to Berlin for discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders regarding strategies to end Moscow's nearly four-year invasion.

The British defense ministry recently established a new organization—the Military Intelligence Services—to coordinate intelligence collection and distribution efforts across the army, navy, and air force.

"This announcement comes amid growing threats to the UK, as adversaries intensify cyber-attacks, disrupt satellite systems, threaten international shipping routes, and disseminate disinformation," the ministry stated on Friday.