Admiral Lord West, once the head of the British navy, has sounded the alarm over Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, warning that the situation could spiral into a full-blown conflict with NATO.
Speaking on the Lord Speaker’s Corner podcast, Lord West said the UK is already, in effect, at war with Moscow.
“It’s quite difficult to see how one’s going to get out of this without triggering a full-scale war between NATO and Russia,” he explained.
“Russia would lose such a war—and the danger is that, in losing, they might make that catastrophic mistake of going nuclear.”
NATO Experts Raise Cybersecurity Alarms
Joining him on the podcast, Lord Robertson, former NATO secretary general, painted an equally stark picture.
He highlighted an increasing wave of cyberattacks targeting critical digital infrastructure as evidence that the West is under constant assault.
“You wouldn’t know it from walking the streets or looking at Parliament, but we are under attack in the cyber world,” Lord Robertson said.
“Recent outages across Europe are too coordinated to be mere coincidence.
The GRU, Russia’s military intelligence, is clearly orchestrating sabotage across the continent.”
Outsourcing Hacking Operations to Criminal Networks
Lord Robertson explained that Moscow is increasingly outsourcing cyber operations to freelancers and organized crime networks, a strategy he described as a “capitalist principle” in action.
This includes attacks on undersea cables that carry 99 percent of global data.
“When these systems are taken down, the public will demand answers,” he warned.
“Hospitals could shut down, lights go out, data centres fail, and people will ask why nothing was done to prevent it.”
A Catastrophic Security Breach at the MoD
Concerns about cyberattacks were underscored last month when Russian hackers stole hundreds of sensitive military documents from the UK Ministry of Defence.
The files contained information on eight RAF and Royal Navy bases, as well as personal details of MoD staff, and were posted on the dark web.
The breach occurred via a contractor, the Dodd Group, who maintained critical systems for the MoD.
By targeting this “gateway,” hackers bypassed even the Armed Forces’ stringent cyber defenses.
The cybercriminal group Lynx is believed to be responsible.
Details of Leaked Bases and Personnel
Among the exposed locations is RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, home to US Air Force F-35 stealth jets and reportedly storing nuclear weapons.
Other sensitive sites include RAF Portreath, a radar station essential to NATO’s air defense network, and RAF Predannack, now serving as the UK’s National Drone Hub.
The leaked data included contractor names, mobile numbers, car registrations, and official MoD personnel contacts.
Many documents were classified “Controlled” or “Official Sensitive,” highlighting the serious nature of the breach.
The Broader Implications
Security experts warn that the attack illustrates just how vulnerable critical systems are in the age of cyber warfare.
With escalating tensions between Russia and the West, officials stress the urgent need to strengthen defenses and prepare for potential consequences that could affect everyday life in the UK.
“The risk isn’t abstract,” Lord West said. “If these attacks continue, the stakes could rise to a point where miscalculations lead to something far worse.”
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