Putin Trying To Trigger Stress In Britain, BBC Expert Warns

Vladimir Putin is trying to “get Britain stressing” over the possibility Russia could target the UK, according to a BBC expert.

It comes after Germany confirmed Russia was responsible for last month’s drone attack at Leipzig airport in a worrying sign that Putin’s war in Ukraine was reaching into other countries.

The BBC’s Russia editor Steve Rosenberg suggested the Kremlin leader was now deliberately using “psychological pressure” to intimidate the UK over its support for Kyiv, too.

When asked by a journalist if military industrial facilities in the UK could become Russian targets – as Putin’s ally Andrei Fedorov said last week – Putin told the media on Tuesday: “That is classified. A military secret.”

Rosenberg told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he could not say with “100%” accuracy what the Russian autocrat meant by those words.

But he added: “My impression is the aim of that short sentence was psychological pressure, to keep Britain guessing, to get Britain stressing, stressing out about Russia’s intentions, and maybe to encourage Britain to think twice before being such a staunch supporter of Ukraine.”

He pointed out that a Russian newspaper recently claimed Andy Burnham should see Putin not in his dreams but “in his nightmares”.

“It doesn’t mean that Russian missiles are about to come raining down on UK defence facilities,” Rosenberg said. “But having said that, yesterday we did hear Germany’s interior minister talking about the well-established pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe.

“There may well be concern in the UK that Russia could step up hybrid activity in Britain [like] hybrid attacks, sabotage, or covert operations.”

However, he noted: “Over the last four and a half years we have heard from Moscow to the west many warnings, many threats.

“We’ve witnessed much saber-rattling here.”

He added that Putin was even issuing threats to foreign nations on the day he invaded Ukraine, warning they would face intense consequences if they supported Kyiv.

So far, UK prime minister Burnham has shrugged off the heightened rhetoric coming from the Kremlin.

Moscow accused Burnham of adding “fuel to the fire” of the Ukraine war last week over the PM’s decision to give Kyiv key missile blueprints.

The PM replied: “Who started the fire? That’s the question, isn’t it.”

Putin has also deflected any blame over the drone attack at Germany’s Leipzig airport, claiming Berlin had planted evidence to blame Moscow.

He had no proof to back up his claim.

Rosenberg said: “Russia’s reaction is as you might expect: denial, and prolific finger-pointing the other way. In other words, Russia accusing the accuser.”

“We’ve seen this kind of reaction many times before whenever Russia is accused by something by western governments,” the specialist noted, pointing to Moscow’s reaction when accused over the Salisbury poisonings.

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