The new director of the UK Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), Blaise Metreweli, in her first public address after taking office, issued a warning on Monday, December 15th, stating that Russia poses an “aggressive, expansionist, revisionist” threat to the UK and its allies. She also assured that the UK’s support for Ukraine will remain unwavering.
The UK Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, appointed Metreweli as its first female director in its history.
Metreweli emphasized, based on excerpts obtained in advance by media outlets such as Reuters and the BBC, that Russia’s combination of assassination, cyber attacks, sabotage operations, and information manipulation has transformed modern conflicts beyond traditional battlefields, penetrating various levels of society, creating a “ubiquitous front line” in terms of security.
She stressed that “exporting chaos is a characteristic of Russia’s engagement in international affairs” and that such practices are expected to continue “until Putin is forced to change his calculations.”
To address this challenge, she demanded that all intelligence officers must be proficient in programming languages like Python as they are in multiple languages, marking a fundamental shift in intelligence work thinking.
Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, she firmly stated that the UK will stand by Ukraine and continue to exert pressure on Russia. Metreweli stated, “Putin should have no doubts, our support is enduring. The pressure we are applying on behalf of Ukraine will persist.”
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the UK has imposed sanctions on numerous Russian businessmen, political leaders, enterprises, vessels, and related entities, including comprehensive sanctions on the entire Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Russian Federal Armed Forces.
Metreweli also mentioned that the UK recently sanctioned Russian entities accused of engaging in information warfare, as well as two Chinese enterprises accused of conducting “indiscriminate network activities” against the UK and its allies.
Metreweli, who succeeded Richard Moore as the director of MI6 in October, becoming the first female leader in the agency’s 116-year history, joined MI6 in 1999 and previously led the Technology and Innovation Division (Q Branch), serving primarily in the Middle East and Europe throughout her career.
On the same day, British Chief of Defense Staff and Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton delivered a speech at the Royal United Services Institute in London, warning that the current security situation is “more dangerous than anything he has seen in his entire career.”
According to a pre-released speech excerpt from media outlets, he is expected to say, “The war in Ukraine shows that Putin is willing to attack neighboring countries, including their civilian populations.”
He also cautioned that Moscow aims to “challenge, constrain, divide, and ultimately destroy NATO.”
Knighton urged the need for a “whole of society approach” to enhance national resilience, emphasizing that deterrence should not be limited to military strength but should involve mobilizing academia, industry, transportation infrastructure, and public healthcare systems to strengthen overall national capabilities.
He stated, “The new era of defense means not just doubling down by our armed forces and government – we are doing that – but it also means the entire country must double down.”