Cyber attack on UK,Russia ‘could kill thousands and thousands and thousands’

The British defense secretary says Russia could kill “thousands and thousands and thousands” of Britons with a cyber attack that could cripple infrastructure and energy supply and cause panic and chaos across the United Kingdom.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson claimed Moscow had been researching the UK’s critical national infrastructure to know how to damage the British economy and energy supply. He offered no proof.

He said Moscow was “trying is to spot vulnerabilities, because what they want to do is they want to know how to strike it, they want to know how they can kill infrastructure and by killing that infrastructure, that means hurting Britain and the British people. Damage its economy, rip its infrastructure apart, actually cause thousands and thousands and thousands of deaths, but actually have an element of creating total chaos within the country.”

He made the remarks a couple of days after the head of the British army said the country needed to “keep up” with Russia’s growing military strength or see its ability to take action “massively constrained.”

While NATO member countries — including the UK — have long harbored Russophobe tendencies, it was unclear what prompted the specific remarks by Williamson.

NATO has recently accused Russia of seeking to attack countries in Eastern Europe, using that allegation to build up forces near Russian borders — NATO’s “eastern flank.” Russia, perceiving that buildup as unprovoked and a threat to its security, has in recent years taken action to strengthen its defenses along its western borders.