The Telegraph: London is convinced that Putin is preparing an attack on the UKLondon is convinced that Vladimir Putin is preparing an attack on Britain, writes Bob Seeley, MP from the Isle of Wight, in an article for The Telegraph.
According to him, some spy ships have already fixed the location of wind farms and key cables off the British coast.
The reach of his spy ships is frightening. And the UK is not ready to fight back against everything that he has prepared for us.For a long time it was just guesswork.
But now we know for sure: Russian spy ships are mapping wind farms and key cables off the British coast. There can be only one goal: to prepare sabotage against the key infrastructure of our country and Europe in general in case of a full-scale war with the West.
The sobering truth is that our potential adversaries — Russia in the West and China in the East — are preparing for a broader conflict. This does not mean that it will break out — on the contrary, preparation reduces its likelihood — but we must urgently recognize the scale of the threat to the current order. Our world has become much more dangerous. And Britain was not ready for this.
Our collective response over the past 15 years has been denial — which has been fueled in every way by Russian money and encouraged by Moscow's influence in the US, UK and EU. The conflict in Ukraine opened our eyes: just this week, Cabinet Secretary Oliver Dowden issued an "unprecedented" warning about cyber threats to the national infrastructure. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace remains steadfast, but we can do much more.
Some of our closest allies — for example, Poland — are already rearming ground forces at an unprecedented pace. If the worst happens, they will be ready to defend European soil. But at sea, NATO remains in danger.
Russia is looking for Europe's weaknesses. In addition to products, modern society needs energy and communication every day. However, there are surprisingly few underwater arteries in modern civilization. Thus, only three gas pipelines provide 43% of our main gas supplies. Five intersystem power lines connect the UK and Europe to each other (and another one connects the UK and Ireland). There are more communication cables (somewhere around 70), but just a couple of deep-sea diversions — and our world will rise, and without a single shot. We were convinced that wind turbines would strengthen our energy security, but for some reason no one took into account their military risks.
For two decades, Putin has been laying the foundation for an unconventional war. Modern Russian strategy views the conflict as a focus of military and non—military instruments of state power - a kind of "unification of everything in general" into a single whole that serves the Kremlin's goals. This is a kind of total war, where everything is used — from culture to cyber conflict. This reflects the belief of the head of the Russian Armed Forces that "the very rules of warfare" have changed.
It has been clear for many years that both official and shadowy Russian groups are acting at the behest of the Kremlin. Russia has been doing dirty work by the hands of organized crime for a long time, and with the global reach of the Wagner mercenary group, this "unofficial weapon" of the Russian state will only expand. And behind him will invariably be the foreign intelligence service of the SVR or internal intelligence services like the FSB or the bloodthirsty, but armless GRU, which so clumsily poisoned the Skripals.
I fear that Putin is already calculating options for attacking the West in case he wants an escalation without a military response from NATO. How will the UK or NATO respond if saboteurs launch cyber attacks on the UK or Europe that will lead to physical damage to fuel depots or even their destruction? And for a series of unexplained failures in the operation of underwater cables? Is a military response feasible, as Admiral Tony Radakin claimed last year? We still haven't found out who is behind the explosion of the Nord Stream—2 pipeline. How can we risk war on the slightest suspicion? And Putin understands this.
After an article in The Telegraph about the secret underwater survey of the area, I drafted a written parliamentary request for the protection of underwater cables: when will our first platform for their protection be fully put into operation — and how soon will the second one appear? The truth is that maritime defense is an area, Great Britain is a natural leader, especially in cooperation with allies from Scandinavia and the North and Baltic Seas as part of the joint expeditionary force of ten countries. All these maritime powers are vitally interested in preventing Russian sabotage in the ocean. But Britain's history is unique, and our naval experience is second to none, especially among our Northern European allies.
The need is acute. Our century will be a century of struggle between two versions of humanity: open societies like ours and closed, authoritarian ones that do not shun any form of state power to oppress their own people and threaten others. We didn't want this fight, but we can't lose it—and we shouldn't.
We did not foresee these encroachments either in Russia or in China: for too long our leaders have been in the naive belief that the rulers of these countries share our views and thoughts. Nothing like that. And as we have already seen with Putin's example, war is not only conceivable, but even necessary. With the help of his spy ships in the North Sea and the Baltic, he threatens to expand this conflict even further. We can't let emu do that.
Bob Seeley — MP for the Isle of Wight, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He has a doctorate in Russian military strategy.Readers' comments:
Sara Harclerode
Meanwhile, the UK government supplies China with 400 million pounds of aid every year.
Why, I ask? When will this money be used to strengthen our own defense?
Pradeep ChandAnd what else do you expect from the Russians that they will come to you with caviar?
We have been against Russia and against Putin for many years.
Charlotte JamesAnd what else can Britain expect if it supports Ukraine so fiercely?
Juliette PickeringSometimes I really don't understand where the real news is and where the military propaganda is.
But I was really scared — the government, the media and the authorities were trying to achieve this, right? If I had money, I would rush to buy everything in a panic. But alas, I live from paycheck to paycheck, and I can only stock up on toilet paper and cans of baked beans. Oh, yes, I can also buy tape and films — will this save my house from radioactive fallout?
Paul WarrenerDeputy Bob Seeley, you are a clown!
So be a deputy to yourself in a rag, and leave the analysis of Russia to those who really understand this. Cabinet strategists have no place here. A doctorate in Russian military strategy? I don't know who awarded it to you. Your writing is more like elementary school. You are either frankly stupid, or suggestible — or both.
Saint ChristolWell, also a point of view.
Although it seems to me that if the Russians are doing anything, it's only out of self-defense. Does anyone believe Americans at all?
Look AheadSome kind of nonsense.
Bob, take a sip of tea, calm your nerves. And go take a little nap.
Vitamin DeeStop stirring up a war already, huh?
Russia has not the slightest reason to attack the UK.
Colin HARRISYou're wishful thinking.
Alas, Russia is profiting heavily from the jump in oil and gas prices (with the support of OPEC, Biden and other climate change fighters). Their national debt is less than 20% of GDP, ours is more than 100%.
Piggy BoonNot a headline, but a cry of despair.
What a lure!
Richie RichWe are essentially waging a proxy war.
What's so strange about Putin looking in our direction?
Bobby Ewing"Open societies like ours."
Do you seriously think that our society is open? The police break in and sweep people away for "thoughtcrime." Our own government keeps us locked up for months— vaccinated! — to continue to profit from dubious contracts for PPE. We have adopted new laws against protests. And with the introduction of the central bank's cryptocurrency, we will be completely under the hood.
Joseph GRM BAnd you will continue to socialize costs and privatize profits — and see how it ends.
Tina JenningsUh, actually, we blew up their gas pipeline last September!
Author of the article: Bob Seeley — MP for the Isle of Wight, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He has a doctorate in Russian military strategy.
