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MI6 spies are backing Ukraine’s “covert action” campaign deep behind Russia’s frontlines.
Spy chief Sir Richard Moore said his spooks were channelling Churchill’s order to “set Europe ablaze”.
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Churchill delivered the legendary command to the Special Operations Executive whose agents parachuted into occupied France and blew up bridges, factories and railway lines during World War Two.
Sir Richard, who is known as C as the boss of the Secret Intelligence Service, said: “We cherish our heritage of covert action which we keep alive today in helping Ukraine resist the Russian invasion.”
He gave no hint of operations but hailed the men and women of the wartime SOE who “kindled the flame of resistance” in Nazi occupied France.
He also said spies from MI6 and France’s DGSE had been vital in seeing past Vladimir Putin’s nuclear “bluster”.
He said: “SIS and DGSE intelligence has been critical to calibrating risk and informing the decisions of our respective governments so they can navigate successfully Putin’s mix of bluster and aggression.”
Britain and France have both given Ukraine long range stealth cruise missiles – Storm Shadows from the UK and SCALP missiles from France.
Ukraine has also hit Russian railways, oil refineries and bridges and assassinated Russian commanders in response to Putin’s full scale invasion.
Sir Richard stepped out of the shadows to deliver a lecture in Paris after The Sun revealed he has been tipped to be Britain’s next US ambassador.
Speaking at the British embassy – a palatial stately home once owned by Napoleon’s sister – he said: “I worked successfully with the first Trump administration to advance our shared security and look forward to doing so again.”
But he also delivered a no-nonsense warning to Donald Trump’s MAGA supporters who want to abandon Ukraine.
He said China, Iran and North Korea would all be emboldened if Moscow triumphs.
He said: “If Putin succeeds in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state he will not stop there.
“Our security – British, French, European, transatlantic – will be jeopardised.
“The cost of supporting Ukraine is well known, but the cost of not doing so would be infinitely higher.”
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He slammed Russia’s spies for their “staggeringly reckless” sabotage attacks in Europe.
Western security officials have accused Russia putting incendiary devices on cargo planes and sparking fires at warehouses in Britain and Germany.
Moore said the world was “in a more dangerous state” now than at any point in his 37 years as a spy.
And he warned that Britain may yet face a “reckoning” from terrorists radicalised by Israel’s wars.
He said: “We have yet to have a full reckoning with the radicalising impact of the fighting and the terrible loss of innocent life in the Middle East after the horrors of Oct 7.”
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