UK fears Russia-backed attacks on military bases in Cyprus

Senior UK defence officials have held “emergency talks” with authorities in Cyprus and Gibraltar over potential Russian threats to British military bases, the Daily Telegraph has revealed.

The discussions followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that Russian forces could strike facilities in countries providing Ukraine with long-range missiles for attacks on Russian territory, such as British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.

“There have been some pretty significant meetings about reviewing the threat level at British sovereign bases in Cyprus and Gibraltar,” a source familiar with the discussions told the Telegraph.

The source added: “Our British interests overseas are easier to access than the UK itself. Cyprus is much more vulnerable to an attack – Russia could arm Hezbollah or another proxy to launch an attack via Iran. One of the things we are most worried about is the Houthis being equipped to launch an attack and they are close to Cyprus”.

The source also referenced recent drone attacks on American bases.

However, government sources emphasised to the newspaper that whilst the meetings did take place, they were part of routine security measure reviews.

They added that there had been no change to the general security posture, either in the UK or at the bases.

The current threat level for bases in Cyprus and Gibraltar remains at “substantial”, meaning an attack is “likely”. This represents the middle tier in the five-level security alert system.

(information from CNA)