Russia has warned the United Kingdom it could face \u201cconsequences\u201d for supplying drones to Ukraine that have been used in long-range attacks inside Russian territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cLondon\u2019s actions will inevitably carry consequences for which \u2060it will have to answer,\u201d the Russian embassy in London said in a statement on Monday. \u201cThe deeper its involvement in the conflict and the greater its support for Kiev\u2019s terrorist machinery, the higher the price it will pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cLondon is deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis, while hypocritically professing a desire for peace,\u201d the embassy wrote on Telegram.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn doing so, the United Kingdom is acting as an accomplice and co-perpetrator of the bloody crimes and terrorist attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Fedorov told the BBC on Tuesday that \u201cconsequences\u201d could include the possibility of attacks. He said many military experts advising the Kremlin are convinced that NATO would not respond forcefully if Russia were to hit the UK. \u201cTrump will not allow NATO to answer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The threat follows reports that Ukraine has been using long-range drones to hit key Russian targets, including oil refineries and logistics facilities. Drones produced by two British companies have been used in a number of these attacks, according to the findings of an investigation by The Times newspaper in the UK.<\/p>\n
On Monday night and into early Tuesday, the mayor of Moscow said Ukraine had launched at least 637 drones in the direction of the Russian capital, of which 197 were shot down by Russian air defences.<\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s Ministry of Defence has not confirmed that its drones have been used to attack Russian territory. Since \u2060the start of Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has repeatedly warned London and Ukraine\u2019s other Western allies that providing long-range weaponry would be seen as an escalation<\/a>.<\/p>\n After Monday\u2019s warning from the Russian embassy, however, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the UK government would continue to support Ukraine \u201c100 percent\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the UK doing what it has long said it would do, which is to support Ukraine 100 percent against this illegal war led by [Russian President] Vladimir Putin,\u201d Burnham said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are providing support so that Ukraine can defend itself, and that\u2019s been the British position all the way through this conflict by previous prime ministers. It remains the case with me. We are not fair-weather friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a look at why Russia has issued this warning to the UK now and whether there is a risk of a broader confrontation:<\/p>\n What military equipment is the UK providing to Ukraine?<\/p>\n In April, Britain\u2019s Defence Ministry announced the biggest-ever drone package for Ukraine as it began deliveries of at least 120,000 drones. The package included \u201cthousands of long-range strike drones, intelligence and reconnaissance drones, logistics drones and maritime capabilities\u201d, the ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n Then in June, London announced a 752 million pound ($996m) funding package including 150,000 drones for Ukraine by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n That followed a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Downing Street in June 2025, at which Zelenskyy announced that the two nations would begin coproducing long-range drones.<\/p>\n But London\u2019s involvement is not limited to drones. The UK was the first country to pledge modern Western battle tanks for Ukraine \u2013 Challenger 2 models \u2013 to replace Ukraine\u2019s Soviet-era tanks. It was also the first to supply Kyiv with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles to hit Russian forces behind the front lines.<\/p>\n The UK has also funded and supplied thousands of air-defence missiles as well as antiarmour missiles, artillery systems and armoured and support vehicles and has provided training to Ukrainian soldiers.<\/p>\n Where have UK-made drones or components been used?<\/p>\n Ukraine has stepped up attacks inside Russia this year, increasingly targeting military industrial and energy facilities in a bid to slash Moscow\u2019s oil revenues funding the war and to make citizens feel the impact of the conflict, which began in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.<\/p>\n Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said drones containing UK components or configurations had been used to attack targets within Russia, including the Kamensky Plant, a Russian military-industrial facility in the Rostov region.<\/p>\n The BBC reported that these drones were used to hit military and industrial targets, including refineries and warehouses of the Russian retail giant Wildberries<\/a>, known as Russia\u2019s Amazon.<\/p>\n Ukraine in recent weeks has struck multiple Wildberries warehouses<\/a>, which Ukraine said are used to supply Russian military components. The company itself and the Kremlin deny the Ukrainian claims.<\/p>\n