The shooting may not have started yet, but let me tell you: Britain is already at war with Russia. When I saw the horrific images this morning of black smoke billowing from a critical energy substation linked to Heathrow Airport, I was immediately suspicious.
It may be too early to come to any hard conclusions. But make no mistake: Heathrow is one of our enemies’ juiciest targets.
At least 1,351 flights have been cancelled today and the knock-on effect to the British economy is likely run into the billions – to say nothing of the stress to ordinary passengers and the loss to Britain’s international prestige. Counter-terrorism police are involved in investigating the fire as a ‘precautionary measure’.
As an intelligence expert who specialises in Eastern Europe, I know that this fire seems straight out of the Kremlin’s playbook. And considering the precedent for Russian-instigated attacks of this kind across Europe in recent years, I firmly believe security services should treat this as sabotage until proven otherwise.
As an intelligence expert who specialises in Eastern Europe, I know that this fire seems straight out of Vladimir Putin’s playbook, writes NEIL BARNETT
The fact that a single fire could close Heathrow for at least an entire day suggests to me a well-planned and carefully executed operation. And tellingly, witnesses have reported seeing an ‘explosion’ – something which suggests the involvement of an incendiary device rather than an organic fire resulting, for example, from a loose cable.
Last year, the head of MI5, Ken McCallum, warned that Russia was intent on generating ‘sustained mayhem on British and European streets’. The Kremlin has made good on that promise.
Just look at the arson attack perpetrated against a Ukrainian-owned business in Leyton, east London, last year. Twenty-year-old Dylan Earl from Leicestershire started a blaze that required 60 firefighters to extinguish. He was charged with aggravated arson and assisting a foreign power – in this case Russia – under the National Security Act 2023.
Ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in three years ago, it has been increasingly difficult for Moscow’s agents to act on British soil. This is partly because the Russian embassy has a reduced presence but, vitally, because MI5 has significantly ramped up its counter-intelligence operations on Russian assets.
When I saw the horrific images this morning of black smoke billowing from a critical energy substation linked to Heathrow Airport, I was immediately suspicious
In all likelihood, if the Heathrow arson incident is proved to have been an attack, it would have been carried out by a career criminal – almost certainly a British citizen – who would have been handsomely paid yet perhaps completely unaware that they were serving as the long arm of Vladimir Putin. They may have been assisted by ‘third-country nationals’ – often Bulgarians – who have been running extensive espionage operations in Europe for their Russian paymasters.
Last May, a factory owned by a German arms firm burst into flames – with officials suspecting that the blaze was the work of Russian saboteurs trying to disrupt the supply chain of arms deliveries to Ukraine. This week, it was revealed that suspected Russian agents tried to find out information about fire safety measures around the site in the run-up to the incident.
Finally, it’s important to consider the timing of the Heathrow blaze. The Russian dictator has recently agreed not to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. But he has said nothing of a similar clemency for Britain. The UK’s staunch support for Ukraine has not been well received in the Kremlin. Could this be a twisted new threat?
The truth will come out in time. Until then, it is incumbent on us all to be vigilant – and to recognise this fearsome new threat for what it is.
