Britain is facing a "staggering rise" in attempts at assassination, sabotage and other crimes on U.K. soil by Russia and Iran, as the two states recruit criminals to "do their dirty work," the head of Britain's domestic intelligence agency said Tuesday.

Director General Ken McCallum warned of a growing threat from Russia and Iran, as well as from al-Qaeda and Islamic State.

MI5 director-general Ken McCallum says the UK faces an increased threat from "Putin's henchmen" and "plot after plot" from Iran.

Ken McCallum says Russian intelligence agencies are also on a ‘sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets’ with ‘arson, sabotage and more’

Russian military intelligence is seeking to cause "mayhem" across Britain and Europe, the UK's domestic spy chief said on Tuesday, while a growing threat from al Qaeda and Islamic State was his greatest terrorism concern.

MI5 had also responded to 20 plots backed by Iran since 2022, he said, although he added the majority of its work still mostly involved Islamist extremism followed by extreme right-wing terrorism. The complex mix of terror-related threats and threats from nation states meant MI5 had "one hell of a job on its hands",

The head of Britain's domestic spy agency accused Russian military intelligence of being on a "sustained mission to generate mayhem."

Russia's GRU military intelligence service is seeking to cause "mayhem" across Britain and Europe, the UK's domestic spy chief said on Tuesday, while a growing threat from resurgent al Qaeda and Islamic State was his greatest terrorism concern.

Russian spies are “on a sustained mission to generate mayhem in British streets”, the head of MI5 has said. Ken McCallum said that as the war in Ukraine continues, the security services were seeing “Putin’s henchmen seeking to strike elsewhere in the misguided hope of weakening Western resolve”.