Admiral Sir Richard Knighton, Chief of the Defence Staff, declared on Monday that the United Kingdom has entered a new and far more perilous era of national security. Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute, he warned that the growing threat from Russia now demands a fundamental shift in national preparedness. “The situation is more dangerous than I have known during my career,” Knighton stated, insisting that strengthening the regular armed forces alone is insufficient.

Knighton explicitly called for a substantial increase in the number of Britons ready to bear arms, alongside a major expansion of active reserves and cadet forces. He acknowledged that “more families will know what sacrifice for our nation means” and announced £50 million in funding for new Defence Technical Excellence Colleges to bolster skills critical to defence industries.

In a separate address, Blaise Metreweli, the new Chief of MI6 and the first woman to lead Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, described Russia as “aggressive, expansionist and revisionist.” She warned that Moscow is deliberately operating in the “grey zone” — using cyberattacks, drone incursions, maritime provocations, and state-sponsored arson to intimidate the West without crossing the threshold into open war.

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Metreweli emphasised that the front line is now everywhere, with adversaries exploiting cyber disruption, hybrid warfare, terrorism, and disinformation. “We are now operating in a space between peace and war,” she said, underscoring an interlocking web of military, technological, and ethical challenges facing the United Kingdom and its allies.

The coordinated warnings coincide with Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s talks in Berlin with European leaders and President Zelensky, as well as the launch of a new unified Military Intelligence Services structure designed to counter intensifying Russian cyberattacks, satellite interference, and global shipping threats.

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