Often the greatest security risks are hiding in plain sight. The Russia of Vladimir Putin is so shameless in its operations to undermine Western democracy, it seeks ever more inventive ways of advertising its wares.
In previous decades, it was about bumping off critics of the regime, performatively with poison. “Look everyone, look what we can do,” was the message. “And you could be next, if you’re not careful.” In recent years, the Kremlin has employed a multi-pronged, anything-goes approach. This has taken the form of cyber attacks, disinformation, bribery and other forms of societal manipulation – and old-fashioned thuggery.
It seems to take something ridiculously amateurish to capture the public imagination: two twenty-somethings – a Ukrainian national and a Ukrainian-born Romanian – convicted this week of arson for setting alight a car once owned by the prime minister. Days after that attack in May last year, they set ablaze two homes, including one rented out to Keir Starmer’s sister-in-law.
The prosecution told the Old Bailey the men were recruited online by a Russian-speaking Telegram user called “El Money”. They were promised large amounts of cryptocurrency in payment but knew nothing about the bigger political picture. The court was told that the defendants did not demonstrate a political or ideological motivation.
