Russian intelligence agents are on a mission “to generate mayhem on British and European streets,” Britain’s spy chief said Tuesday in a wide-ranging speech that also warned of a rising threat from Iran and new efforts by the Islamic State to export terrorism. In an update of risks facing the country, Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, Britain’s domestic security service, blamed Russia’s military intelligence agency, the G.R.U., for “dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness,” including cases of “arson, sabotage and more.”Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, more than 750 Russian diplomats have been expelled from Europe, “the great majority of them spies,” said Mr. McCallum, adding that this had dented the ability of the Russian intelligence services to inflict damage on Western nations. But Russian state actors have recently turned to private intelligence operatives and criminals to carry out missions, a development that, Mr. McCallum said, has reduced the professionalism of their operations.
