A senior Kremlin adviser has warned that British facilities manufacturing drones for Ukraine could become targets of retaliation from Russia, escalating tensions between Moscow and London after the United Kingdom agreed to share long-range missile technology with Kyiv. Andrei Fedorov, a Kremlin adviser and former Russian deputy foreign minister, told the BBC that Moscow could not completely rule out a “semi-military” response against Britain, arguing that London’s decision to provide Ukraine with missile blueprints amounted to evidence of direct British military involvement in the war. Fedorov said Russia could respond through a range of measures, including what he described as a possible “technical reaction”, cyberattacks attributed to unidentified actors and political steps, while also suggesting that companies and factories producing drones for Ukraine could potentially face disruption. His remarks came as British Prime Minister Andy Burnham visited Kyiv and met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, underscoring Britain’s continuing military and political support for Ukraine more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Moscow has repeatedly accused Western governments of becoming direct participants in the conflict by supplying Ukraine with increasingly sophisticated weapons, while Britain and its allies maintain that their military assistance is intended to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov echoed Fedorov’s position on Monday, accusing Britain of “participating in this war” through its missile support and warning that such assistance was effectively adding fuel to the conflict. Responding during his visit to Kyiv, Burnham challenged the Russian narrative, asking reporters who had started the fire in the first place, referring to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The latest dispute follows a British decision to declassify and share technical blueprints for British-made components associated with the French-British Storm Shadow missile system, including the French-produced SCALP variant. The arrangement is intended to strengthen Ukraine’s ability to manufacture long-range weapons domestically and reduce its dependence on foreign-supplied systems. The SCALP missile, which has already been used by Ukrainian forces against targets in Russia, is designed to strike heavily protected facilities, including hardened military positions and bunkers, and has an estimated range of about 240 kilometres. Ukraine has simultaneously expanded domestic drone production at a rapid pace, producing large numbers of relatively inexpensive unmanned systems capable of striking military, industrial and economic targets deep inside Russian territory. The growth of Ukraine’s long-range drone capability has become one of the most significant developments in the war, forcing Russia to devote increasing resources to air defence and the protection of critical infrastructure. Moscow’s latest warnings therefore come at a particularly sensitive moment, as Western governments debate how far they can expand military assistance to Kyiv without triggering a direct confrontation with Russia. Any attack on British defence facilities or companies involved in producing equipment for Ukraine would represent a potentially dangerous escalation, particularly if Moscow sought to maintain plausible deniability through cyber operations or attacks attributed to unidentified actors. British officials have not indicated that they intend to reduce military cooperation with Ukraine, and the government’s continued support suggests that London sees strengthening Kyiv’s domestic weapons production as a key component of Ukraine’s long-term war strategy. For Ukraine, the ability to manufacture advanced long-range weapons at home could provide greater operational flexibility while reducing vulnerabilities associated with foreign supply chains. For Russia, however, the transfer of missile technology and expansion of Ukrainian weapons production are likely to be viewed as further evidence that the conflict is increasingly becoming a confrontation between Moscow and a wider Western-backed security coalition. The latest Kremlin warning consequently adds another layer of uncertainty to an already volatile conflict, with the possibility of cyberattacks, political retaliation or pressure on British defence-related industries raising concerns that the confrontation could increasingly extend beyond the battlefield in Ukraine and into the wider European security environment.
Moscow angry over giving missile technology to Ukraine, threatens Britain with countermeasures
