Moscow Should Be in No Doubt of the West's Support for Ukraine's Sovereignty – Chief of MI6

The current difficult relationship with Russia is not the one the UK wants. But the Intelligence will do whatever it takes to keep our country safe and to deter and defend against the full spectrum of threats Moscow poses. This was emphasized by the Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Richard Moore in his speech “Human Intelligence in the Digital Age” at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) - a research center on military-political conflicts headquartered in London.

The main theme of Moore's first public speech since taking office in October 2020 was the tectonic changes he sees in the world, particularly in the intelligence environment.

Among MI6's priorities, Richard Moore traditionally named Russia, China and Iran. The fourth priority is the threat of international terrorism. “What we do as human intelligence, is essential, because at the end of the day, even in the digital world, important decisions are made by real people. We need to understand what motivates our adversaries; their intentions, their plans and their methods. We need to reduce the space within which they believe they can act against us with impunity - online or offline. "

The Chief of MI6 also pointed out that the United Kingdom continues to face a growing threat from Russia. “More often than not, these Russian state activities are covert, or at least deniable. However, we are also seeing more brazen activity - often linked to the personal enrichment of elites around President Putin - the denial of which is increasingly implausible”, said Richard Moore. He cited the deployment of Russian private military companies in Africa and Syria and the poisoning of Alexei Navalny as examples.

“We, our allies and partners must stand up to and deter Russian activity which contravenes the rules-based international system As the Foreign and Defense Ministers made clear in their visits to Ukraine, Moscow should be in no doubt of our allies’ support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, including Crimea. Ukraine is a separate, sovereign country with a separate, sovereign Ukrainian people”, said the Chief of the British Intelligence.