Cross-party group will visit Estonia and Finland where politicians will inform them of hybrid warfare threat

A cross-party group of senior MPs, including the shadow defence secretary, Nia Griffith, is to be briefed by officials in Finland and Estonia on the threat posed by Russia, in an attempt by the MPs to help suspend any sympathy British politicians may have with the Kremlin.

A delegation of six MPs will meet officials and local politicians on Sunday to discuss the threat of hybrid warfare from Vladimir Putin’s government. Last month it was announced that the European Union was planning to set up a “hybrid threat” centre in Finland to combat the growing number of cyberattacks, including disinformation and fake news promoted on social media. Estonian politicians have accused Russia of stirring antagonism towards immigrants in their country.

John Woodcock, the chair of Labour’s backbench committee on defence who is part of the delegation of MPs, said he hoped to be able to garner intelligence that could then be used to persuade any “Kremlin apologists” in the Commons of the real dangers posed by the president.

On Saturday, it was reported that Theresa May was preparing to hold a National Security Council session to examine Russia’s actions towards Britain and its allies.

Woodcock said: “Russia under Putin has been steadily increasing its level of threat to its neighbours, and after the slaughter it sponsored in Aleppo, it deserves to be treated as a pariah nation.

“Russia’s contempt for humanitarian laws and disregard for the system of rules in place since the second world war is a profound threat to global security, and its level of covert aggression towards the UK is arguably already akin to the cold war era.

“Britain can no longer afford to leave unchallenged the recent examples of craven Kremlin apologism in UK politics, particularly given anxiety over how Nato will hold together with Donald Trump as US president.

“I am pleased to have been able to organise this cross-party delegation to two European nations on Russia’s border, and hope that the briefings we will organise in the new year will be helpful to Labour colleagues.”

Others in the delegation are the Labour MPs Alison McGovern and Toby Perkins, the Labour and Cooperative MP Adrian Bailey, and the Conservative MP Mark Menzies.