Threats from Russia will not control the decision-making of Great Britain regarding Ukrainian support – the most senior minister in the Cabinet Officer has told Nato.
Speaking at a Nato Cyber Defence Conference, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden has said his country will not give in to “voices of weakness” in the face of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s warnings that the use of Western-supplied weapons inside Russia was grounds to lower the threshold for using nuclear weapons.
Mr McFadden warned that Russia had “stepped up” its cyber-attacks against its enemies over the past year.
He said: “We will not join those voices of weakness who want to give Putin a veto over our help for Ukraine.
“And given the scale of Russia’s hostility, my message to members today is clear.
“While no one should underestimate the Russian aggressive and reckless cyber threat to Nato, we will not be intimidated by it, and we will never allow it to dictate our decisions or policies.”
Threats from Russia have intensified after the US approved Ukraine to use the long-range Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms) inside their border, and a UK Storm Shadow missile was reportedly used in western Kursk.
Mr McFadden said that Ukraine was becoming a “global” conflict, and insisted the UK would not be deterred from supporting Kyiv in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
A significant escalation occurred when Mr Putin claimed he was entitled to target the military facilities of countries that had supplied weapons to Kyiv.
These would include the UK, the US and other European countries.
The senior minister also outlined how Russia could launch a cyber-attack that could “turn off the lights for millions of people” and accused Moscow of targeting British media, telecoms and energy infrastructure.
He added: “Aided by allies including the UK, Ukraine has had to defend itself from crippling Russian cyber-attacks on its electricity grid, its airports, and other critical national infrastructure.
“Russia has targeted its mobile networks – cutting off communications for millions at a time – and, on occasion, disabled the air raid warning system in Kyiv.”
Source: Forces News
