Former MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore said Vladimir Putin is attempting to intimidate the United Kingdom through proxy activities and attacks [1, 2].
These warnings highlight a shift in how hostile states operate within British borders, suggesting that direct state action has been replaced by indirect methods to avoid formal diplomatic escalation while maintaining pressure on the government.
According to Moore, these activities have intensified since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022 [1]. He said that hostile states utilize proxies to carry out attacks in Britain as a primary means of intimidation and influence [1].
By using third parties, the Russian government can project power and create instability without leaving a clear, immediate trail back to the Kremlin. This strategy allows for a level of plausible deniability while still achieving the goal of unsettling the British public, and policymakers.
The use of proxies represents a complex challenge for domestic security services. It requires a shift in intelligence gathering to identify not just the actors performing the attacks, but the hidden state sponsors directing them from abroad.
Moore said that the objective of these operations is to sway UK policy or weaken the resolve of the British government in its support of Ukraine. The persistence of these activities suggests a long-term campaign of hybrid warfare designed to erode trust in national security institutions [1, 2].
“Vladimir Putin is attempting to intimidate the United Kingdom through proxy activities and attacks.”
The shift toward proxy warfare indicates that the conflict in Ukraine has expanded beyond a territorial battle into a global intelligence struggle. For the UK, this means the threat landscape has evolved from traditional espionage to a model of 'deniable' aggression, where the line between criminal activity and state-sponsored terrorism becomes blurred to complicate the legal and diplomatic response.
