RUSSIA is engaged in a new era of subversive warfare – and Vladimir Putin has Britain in his sights.
The Kremlin boss has reinvented military might so that he no longer relies solely on armies to attack his enemies.
Today his most powerful weapons are computer hackers, criminal gangs, cyber warriors and internet trolls.
And this war is being fought on the new battlegrounds of Facebook and Twitter as well as on TV.
Jeremy Corbyn’s rise has given Putin a golden opportunity in Britain.
He would love nothing more than to see the disarmament-loving, Nato-hating Labour leader and his hard-Left clique in Downing Street.
That is why Britain has suddenly become a number one target for Moscow chicanery.
Putin blames Nato and the US for the collapse of his beloved USSR.
Now he is seeking revenge by trying to undermine our alliances so he can smash the current world order and replace it with something more friendly towards despots like himself.
We are witnessing a cyber-age rerun of the Cold War — and the likely Russian nerve agent attack in Salisbury was merely the latest in a wave of incursions.
Across Europe and America, the Kremlin is actively subverting politicians and governments it does not like.
It staged a failed coup in Montenegro, annexed the Crimea and parts of Georgia and started a war in eastern Ukraine.
And Russia is stirring in the Balkans by re-arming the Serbs.
This is against a backdrop of daily propaganda campaigns against the West via Kremlin-controlled media, occasional murders in the UK and relentless cyber attacks on Western targets in the US, France, Germany and the UK.
Putin is also threatening Nato allies in the Baltic.
Britons should be under no illusion that as well as Corbyn in No10, the Kremlin would love to break up the Union
Bob Seely
Britain must be prepared for a long and difficult Cold War-style conflict along these new battle lines.
With four years at most until the next General Election, Putin will throw his resources at trying to get “useful idiot” Jeremy Corbyn into No10.
We should assume our elections are vulnerable and act fast.
Other nations, such as the US, hesitated and regret it.
In the US, Congress has evidence to prove the Kremlin conspired to meddle in the 2016 Presidential election.
On Facebook alone, Russian trolls ran 470 accounts, reaching 126million users.
Russia’s social media understanding is very advanced and it has combined that with top-secret Soviet-era programmes designed to manipulate people.
For example, in Texas — a state with a high rate of weapon ownership — Russia’s “troll factory” tried to organise pro and anti-Islamic rallies in the same place at the same time to spark bloodshed and divisive media coverage.
Five steps to keep our people safe
- Methodically expose Moscow’s subversion campaigns. Parliament or Government needs to establish a working group/organisation to do so, and it needs a UK and global remit. We need to inform the media and the public how Russian disinformation works.
- Work with US finance authorities and others to make sure there is no hiding place in the financial system for the Kremlin kleptocrats. Use the UK economic crimes unit and Unexplained Wealth Orders. Demand more transparency in property ownership.
- Defend our freedoms. Introduce a named list for agents of Russian influence in the UK and preferably elsewhere. If you want to work for Putin or his cronies, you need to be open about it. Introduce laws to ensure a “health warning” on broadcasters and other media that are actually paid-for propagandists, especially for authoritarian states.
- Deter Russia by working with the US and Nato to make sure we are in a position to stand up to Russian conventional and nuclear aggression in Europe. If the Russians feel they can dominate militarily, it will make them more assertive. And yes, we need to spend more on defence.
- Co-operate closely with the US, Canada and the EU to offer a grand bargain to Ukraine. Kiev’s is the only functioning democracy out of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
In the UK, a likely course of Kremlin action could be to steal information from Whitehall servers and leak it before the election, trashing the Tories and perhaps helping Labour into power.
It will also increase public cynicism of democracy — a key Kremlin aim.
Putin will use his propaganda fronts — TV station Russia Today (now known as RT) and the Sputnik news agency — to fan his malign agenda.
We have already seen how Russian bots stirred anti-Muslim feeling during the Westminster terror attack a year ago.
And Britons should be under no illusion that as well as Corbyn in No10, the Kremlin would love to break up the Union. Scottish independence is a Russian goal.
That is why failed SNP leader Alex Salmond has been given his own show on RT, and Sputnik, now with an office in Scotland, has claimed the 2014 independence referendum was rigged.
We need to fight back.
Congress in the US wants new laws to force broadcasters to disclose who is backing them.
Foreign media used as government mouthpieces could be forced to carry a “health warning” in the form of a “conspicuous statement” telling people it is state propaganda and not journalism.
We need that here.
The Kremlin’s information war is just one tool in a box of tricks for Putin’s new forms of conflict.
There is more we need to look out for.
Russia seamlessly mixes military and non-military means.
Indeed, its military doctrine says that mix is the first characteristic of modern warfare.
The head of the Russian military believes that cyber use, spying and street protest can be more powerful than traditional military force. This is a new, full-spectrum form of conflict.
So what should we do? First, we need to accept that Russia believes itself to be in a new Cold War.
Second, we must methodically expose Russian disinformation and subversion campaigns. And most importantly, we need to act.
MOST READ IN OPINION
The world is becoming a more dangerous place. Britain’s foreign policy now should be about protecting our people and safeguarding our values against those who wish to harm us and our interests.
There are things that we can do to deter Russia. The PM has been strong so far. Now she needs to be bold and defend our freedoms.
Otherwise Putin will do his worst to engineer fellow traveller Jeremy Corbyn into No10.