Britain is not at war with Russia, says minister

Russia is conducting a campaign of hybrid attacks and sabotage across Europe and is constantly probing and testing Britain, but the two countries are not at war and Britain does not seek confrontation, according to an answer given in Parliament.

Richard Holden, the Conservative member for Basildon and Billericay, asked whether the description of Russia’s actions as being short of war by officials in the department reflected a political or a military analysis.

Louise Sandher-Jones, the Minister for the Armed Forces, said: “Russia is conducting a campaign of hybrid attacks and sabotage across Europe. Russia is constantly probing and testing us, including through military posturing.

“We are not at war with Russia, nor do we seek confrontation but with an increase in threats the UK will increase its warfighting readiness and meet its NATO commitments. The government is also acting against threats on our own shores.

“Russia should be in no doubt that we are ready to defend every inch of NATO territory and will not be deterred in our unwavering support for Ukraine.”

Officials have been more forthcoming about Russian activity in other published material. The government’s Arctic Policy Framework, published last week, named the threat to critical national infrastructure from Russia’s Main Directorate for Deep-Sea Research, said Britain has exposed its operations and demonstrated a capability to respond, and described the shadow fleet as a systemic risk. The Lunna House Agreement with Norway commits the two navies to protecting undersea cables and pipelines in the North Atlantic.

Paul Downie of Cyjax told this publication this month that attribution of Russian activity takes too long and that British defence suppliers are exposed, and the question of where sabotage, cyber intrusion and cable cutting sit on a spectrum that ends in Article 5 has been raised repeatedly by MPs.

Short of war describes the adversary’s intention and not the effect, which is the practical difficulty with it. A cut cable, a burned warehouse or a disabled logistics network produces the same consequence whether or not anyone has declared anything.