Russia has warned that British military facilities and equipment could become targets for retaliatory strikes if Ukraine continues using UK-supplied weapons to attack Russian territory.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova issued the warning on Thursday amid worsening relations between Moscow and London, following reports that Ukrainian forces used British-French Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles in an attack on Donetsk that wounded at least eight civilians, including two children.
“We have repeatedly warned that the response to Ukrainian strikes using British weapons against Russian territory could be directed against any British military facilities and equipment in Ukraine and beyond,” Zakharova told reporters.
She said those responsible for attacks on Russian civilians would face consequences, along with what she described as their “accomplices and instigators.” Zakharova also accused successive British governments of seeking Russia’s “strategic defeat” and warned UK residents about what she called the potentially “catastrophic consequences” of London’s policies.
Her comments follow Britain’s decision earlier this week to approve the transfer of classified technology intended to help Ukraine manufacture Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles domestically.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Britain of “participating in this war on the side of the Kiev regime” and said Russian forces were gathering intelligence on Ukrainian sites involved in producing missiles and other military equipment with a view to targeting them.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has similarly argued that British involvement in missile strikes against Russia amounts to participation in the conflict “with all the consequences that entails.”
