 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. 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. 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. Two other British citizens were exposed to the nerve agent in June, apparently by accident; one of them, Dawn Sturgess, died. 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. 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. 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." The Russian Embassy in London responded to the comments with a tweet on November 24, saying "Army chief doesn't care about [IS]?
– 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.)