The head of Britain's domestic spy agency accused Russian military intelligence of being on a "sustained mission to generate mayhem."

Head of U.K.’s MI5 warns that Russia and Iran are hiring low-level criminals to undertake sabotage missions and attacks on dissidents in Europe.

Russian military intelligence is seeking to cause "mayhem" across Britain and Europe, the UK's domestic spy chief said on Tuesday, while a growing threat from al Qaeda and Islamic State was his greatest terrorism concern.

Russian spies are “on a sustained mission to generate mayhem in British streets”, the head of MI5 has said. Ken McCallum said that as the war in Ukraine continues, the security services were seeing “Putin’s henchmen seeking to strike elsewhere in the misguided hope of weakening Western resolve”.

MI5 had also responded to 20 plots backed by Iran since 2022, he said, although he added the majority of its work still mostly involved Islamist extremism followed by extreme right-wing terrorism. The complex mix of terror-related threats and threats from nation states meant MI5 had "one hell of a job on its hands",

The head of MI5 says Britain is facing a staggering rise in attempts at assassination, sabotage and other crimes backed by Russia and Iran

The head of Britain’s domestic security service said Russia’s military intelligence service was pursuing “dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness.”