text: Russia is now “indisputably” a greater threat to the security of Britain and her allies than Islamist extremist groups such as al-Qaeda and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil), the new Army chief has warned. 
   
   Apart from posing a conventional military threat, the Russians are constantly seeking to undermine the West by developing new war-fighting capabilities in non-conventional areas such as cyber and space. 
   
   Speaking in his first interview since his appointment as the Chief of the General Staff, Gen Mark Carleton-Smith, 54, said it was vital that Britain and its allies were not complacent about the threat Russia posed. 
   
   “Russia today indisputably represents a far greater threat to our national... ||||| Image copyright EPA Image caption Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied allegations Russia was behind the Salisbury spy poisoning 
   
   Russia is now a "far greater threat" to the UK's national security than the Islamic State group, the head of the British army has said. 
   
   In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, General Mark Carleton-Smith said Britain "cannot be complacent about the threat Russia poses". 
   
   "The Russians seek to exploit vulnerability and weakness wherever they detect it," he said. 
   
   The UK blames Russia for the Salisbury poisoning and several cyber-attacks. 
   
   In March, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal - who sold secrets to MI6 - and his daughter Yulia survived being poisoned with Novichok. 
   
   Dawn Sturgess, 44, was later exposed to the same nerve agent and died in hospital. 
   
   Gen Carleton-Smith's comments follow similar remarks made earlier this year by the UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson. 
   
   In October, the UK government also accused Russia's GRU military intelligence service of being behind four high-profile cyber-attacks on targets including the US Democratic Party and a small TV network in Britain. 
   
   Russia denies any involvement in the Skripal poisoning and has described cyber-attack accusations as a "rich fantasy". 
   
   Image copyright EPA/ Yulia Skripal/Facebook Image caption Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found unconscious 
   
   In his first interview since being appointed Chief of the General Staff in June, Gen Carleton-Smith said Russia is "indisputably" a bigger threat than Islamic terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and IS. 
   
   "Russia has embarked on a systematic effort to explore and exploit Western vulnerabilities, particularly in some of the non-traditional areas of cyber, space, undersea warfare," he said. 
   
   "We cannot be complacent about the threat Russia poses or leave it uncontested." 
   
   The Russian Embassy responded by poking fun at his comments. 
   
   The 54-year-old former SAS commander graduated from Sandhurst military academy in the final years of the Cold War. 
   
   He led the search for Osama bin Laden following the 9/11 terror attacks and was at the forefront of Britain's role in the campaign to combat IS in Iraq and Syria. 
   
   Image copyright Crown Copyright 2016 Image caption Gen Carleton-Smith said the physical manifestation of the Islamist threat has diminished 
   
   Russia has previously been condemned by world leaders over its annexation of Crimea and role in the conflict in Ukraine. 
   
   Moscow has also been accused of meddling in the 2016 US presidential election - which President Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials have repeatedly denied. 
   
   Image copyright Metropolitan Police Image caption CCTV shows two suspects in the Salisbury poisoning, who the UK believes are from Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU 
   
   Mr Putin also rejects the UK's allegations that the two suspects in the Skripal poisoning were GRU operatives. 
   
   Russia has accused the British authorities of Russophobia, misleading the international community and UK citizens and of "disgusting anti-Russian hysteria". 
   
   Read more: ||||| Russia is a "far greater threat" to Britain's national security than Islamic terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (IS), the new head of the British Army has warned. 
   
   In an interview with The Daily Telegraph published on November 23, General Mark Carleton-Smith said Britain and its allies "cannot be complacent about the threat Russia poses." 
   
   The Russian Embassy in London responded to the comments with a tweet on November 24, saying "Army chief doesn't care about [IS]? Great global strategic vision!" 
   
   
   
   Carleton-Smith made the comments at a time of heightened tensions between the West and Russia over issues including Moscow's aggression in Ukraine, its alleged election meddling in the United States and Europe, massive international cyberattacks, and the poisoning of a Russian double agent and his daughter in Britain. 
   
   "Russia today indisputably represents a far greater threat to our national security than Islamic extremist threats" such as Al-Qaeda and IS, Carleton-Smith said in his first interview since becoming chief of Britain's General Staff in June. 
   
   The 54-year-old former SAS commander said Moscow had "embarked on a systematic effort to explore and exploit Western vulnerabilities, particularly in some of the nontraditional areas of cyber-, space, undersea warfare." 
   
   With the threat from Islamist groups in the Middle East now reduced, the focus needs to shift to Russia, the British general also said, warning, "We cannot be complacent about the threat Russia poses or leave it uncontested." 
   
   During a visit to Lisbon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also poked fun at the remarks, saying, "We cannot influence the British government's decisions as to whom they trust to head its armed forces," according to the Interfax news agency. 
   
   
   
   "I hope they check the appropriateness of such decisions," Lavrov added. 
   
   In October, U.K. Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson accused Russia of acting like a "pariah state," whose "reckless and indiscriminate" attacks had left it isolated in the international community. 
   
   The Russian Foreign Ministry described the accusations as "fantasy." 
   
   Britain and most of the West has blamed Russia for a nerve-agent attack on Russian former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in the English city of Salisbury in March. Moscow denies any involvement. 
   
   The Skripals survived the poisoning, which used a Soviet-made military nerve agent known as Novichok. 
   
   Two other British citizens were exposed to the nerve agent in June, apparently by accident; one of them, Dawn Sturgess, died. 
   
   With reporting by the Daily Telegraph, the BBC, Press Association, and Interfax
target: – A British general is warning his country and the West about Russia—a threat he calls worse than anything posed by ISIS or al-Qaeda, the BBC reports. "The Russians seek to exploit vulnerability and weakness wherever they detect it," General Mark Carleton-Smith tells the Telegraph. "Russia today indisputably represents a far greater threat to our national security than Islamic extremist threats such as al-Qaeda and [ISIS]." Carleton-Smith, who led Britain's fight against ISIS and in June became head of the British army, says military action has weakened Islamic militants. But in the wake of alleged poisoning and cyber-attacks, Russia looms large. "Russia has embarked on a systematic effort to explore and exploit Western vulnerabilities, particularly in some of the non-traditional areas of cyber, space, undersea warfare," he says. But he opposes any notion (perhaps like French President Emmanuel Macron's) that would weaken the military strength of NATO. He says the "center of gravity of European security" should hold fast. "In my experience, we should reinforce success." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov derided Carleton-Smith's remarks while visiting Lisbon, Radio Free Europe reports. "We cannot influence the British government's decisions as to whom they trust to head its armed forces," says Lavrov. "I hope they check the appropriateness of such decisions." (Russian trolls apparently whipped up a frenzy over vaccines.)