Welcome to
The Resilience Imperative
We are in the midst of an undeclared, hybrid war.
Hostile state actors, primarily Russia, are waging a persistent campaign of aggression against the United Kingdom using unconventional means.
This hybrid war is fought not on traditional battlefields, but in the shadows of our society through sabotage, election interference, disinformation, cyber-attacks, and arson, all designed to disrupt our daily lives and undermine our way of life.
Our mission is to raise awareness of these unconventional attacks.
The range, scope and form of unconventional attacks by rogue states is currently poorly understood by the general public.
Our goal is to close this critical perception gap and equip the public with the knowledge to identify and resist these attacks, fostering informed vigilance.
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By building national resilience, we make our country harder to intimidate, harder to divide, and impossible to defeat.
And to build national resilience across the whole of society.
Collective, informed national effort is the ultimate deterrent. Our objective is to shift the UK's national consciousness, making security and resilience a top-tier public priority.​
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Our goal is to ensure that the UK remains secure, sovereign, and resilient, no matter the pressure applied by unconventional hybrid warfare methods.
Why resilience, and why now?
The world is going through an unprecedented period of change, where old assumptions about what keeps us safe are now in doubt. The world is changing at such a rapid rate it can be hard to keep up and understand if and how it will impact our everyday lives. But it will, and already is.
Unconventional warfare
Examples of unconventional warfare attacks on critical national infrastructure across the UK and continental Europe
Data cables
In 2025, the Russian intelligence gathering vessel The Yantar was suspected of mapping subsea communication cables in UK waters.
Gas
In September 2022, the Nord Stream pipelines were severely damaged by underwater explosions in the Baltic Sea.
Satellites
Two Russian space vehicles, Luch-1 and Luch-2, have repeatedly maneuvered close to European satellites, likely intercepting their command links.
Air transport
In July 2024, Russia's GRU attempted to sabotage cargo planes by concealing a magnesium-based incendiary compound inside electric massagers, detonating at DHL warehouses in Germany, Poland and the UK.
Power
In December 2024, the tanker Eagle 5 is suspected of severing the Estlink 2 subsea electricity interconnector in the Gulf of Finland.
Rail infrastructure
In August 2023, attackers exploited an unsecured railway radio system in Poland to transmit false emergency stop commands, halting 20 trains. The attackers are thought to be Russian-sponsored.
Cyber attack on Jaguar LandRover
In August 2025, a hack on JLR halted global manufacturing operations. The damage is estimated at £2bn and affected 5,000 businesses in the JLR supply chain. The hack is thought to be Russian-sponsored.
East London Warehouse Fire
Two warehouses in London holding Ukraine war supplies were set on fire in March 2024. Five men were sentenced for their role in the attack. Russia's Wagner Group is thought to be behind the sabotage.
European Airport Drones
Between September and October 2025, drone overflights caused disruption in Copenhagen, Munich, and three locations in Denmark.
About us
Building national resilience
The Resilience Imperative is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organisation founded by Lady Olga Maitland and the Defence and Security Forum.
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It brings together experienced figures from business, private capital and community engagement groups.
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It is guided by an executive board and an advisory committee, ensuring strategic rigour and a broad perspective.
The Resilience Imperative is​ independent and funded entirely by donations.
Our Partners.
Rt. Hon. Sir John Wheeler
If politicians and the wider public lack an understanding of history they cannot assess the risks of the present. Good intelligence with excellent assessment prepares the way, but solid investment in defence, learning from Ukraine, is essential if the country is to deter potential enemies. The attack upon our freedom and democracy comes in many different ways, from disruption of banking to energy supply and commercial infrastructure, so our defence depends upon business, Government and the public to be resilient.
General Sir Richard Barrons, KCB, CBE
Now is the time for every citizen, enterprise and institution, including government, to make resilience an everyday part of how we think and act. Doing so keeps us safer when events turn against us, and restores a key foundation of credible deterrence in the face of those who would harm us. Public awareness and engagement remain low and resilience is too often treated as a technical issue rather than a national one.
Lady Olga Maitland
The undeclared war has started, not always recognised as such, but it is already undermining our society in terms of cyber-attacks, arson, sabotage, espionage, manipulation of public attitudes and disruption of public services.
