LONDON 24 Nov (ANA)- 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.

 

And in October, the UK government 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".

 

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 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.(ANA)

FA/ANA/24 November 2018--------