Blaise Metreweli, the new chief of MI6 and the first woman to lead the service, joins Chief of the Defence Staff Richard Knighton in warning that Britain is already on the front line of an aggressive and expansionist Russian campaign targeting NATO and Western societies through disinformation, sabotage, cyberattacks and wider instability operations. Together they argue that defeating Vladimir Putin’s ambitions in Ukraine and deterring a possible Russian attack on a NATO country will require sustained economic and military pressure on Moscow, major investment in advanced technology, and a whole-of-society effort to build national resilience across the UK and Europe. Knighton, who will address the Royal United Services Institute, will call for mobilization of every sector of British life, from universities and the NHS to the national rail network, backed by a £50 million training package and new Defence Technical Excellence institutions, as London responds to rising Russian submarine activity and deepening uncertainty driven by more capable adversaries and rapidly evolving technology.