Russia has warned the United Kingdom it could face “consequences” for supplying drones to Ukraine that have been used in long-range attacks inside Russian territory.
“London’s actions will inevitably carry consequences for which it will have to answer,” the Russian embassy in London said in a statement on Monday. “The deeper its involvement in the conflict and the greater its support for Kiev’s terrorist machinery, the higher the price it will pay.”
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“London is deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis, while hypocritically professing a desire for peace,” the embassy wrote on Telegram.
“In doing so, the United Kingdom is acting as an accomplice and co-perpetrator of the bloody crimes and terrorist attacks.”
Former Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Fedorov told the BBC on Tuesday that “consequences” 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. “Trump will not allow NATO to answer,” he said.
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.
On Monday night and into early Tuesday, the mayor of Moscow said Ukraine had launched at least ۶۳۷ drones in the direction of the Russian capital, of which ۱۹۷ were shot down by Russian air defences.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence has not confirmed that its drones have been used to attack Russian territory. Since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine in ۲۰۲۲, Moscow has repeatedly warned London and Ukraine’s other Western allies that providing long-range weaponry would be seen as an escalation.
After Monday’s warning from the Russian embassy, however, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the UK government would continue to support Ukraine “۱۰۰ percent”.
“This is the UK doing what it has long said it would do, which is to support Ukraine ۱۰۰ percent against this illegal war led by [Russian President] Vladimir Putin,” Burnham said.
“We are providing support so that Ukraine can defend itself, and that’s 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.”
Here’s a look at why Russia has issued this warning to the UK now and whether there is a risk of a broader confrontation:
What military equipment is the UK providing to Ukraine?
In April, Britain’s Defence Ministry announced the biggest-ever drone package for Ukraine as it began deliveries of at least ۱۲۰,۰۰۰ drones. The package included “thousands of long-range strike drones, intelligence and reconnaissance drones, logistics drones and maritime capabilities”, the ministry said in a statement.
Then in June, London announced a ۷۵۲ million pound ($۹۹۶m) funding package including ۱۵۰,۰۰۰ drones for Ukraine by the end of ۲۰۲۶.
That followed a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Downing Street in June ۲۰۲۵, at which Zelenskyy announced that the two nations would begin coproducing long-range drones.
But London’s involvement is not limited to drones. The UK was the first country to pledge modern Western battle tanks for Ukraine – Challenger ۲ models – to replace Ukraine’s 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.
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.
Where have UK-made drones or components been used?
Ukraine has stepped up attacks inside Russia this year, increasingly targeting military industrial and energy facilities in a bid to slash Moscow’s oil revenues funding the war and to make citizens feel the impact of the conflict, which began in February ۲۰۲۲ when Russia invaded Ukraine.
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.
The BBC reported that these drones were used to hit military and industrial targets, including refineries and warehouses of the Russian retail giant Wildberries, known as Russia’s Amazon.
Ukraine in recent weeks has struck multiple Wildberries warehouses, which Ukraine said are used to supply Russian military components. The company itself and the Kremlin deny the Ukrainian claims.
Last week, the company was forced to limit orders after Ukrainian drones hit a warehouse in Yekaterinburg, ۲,۰۸۷km (۱,۲۹۷ miles) from the Ukrainian border. On Tuesday, a warehouse east of Moscow belonging to Wildberries was also damaged in a drone assault.
In addition to these high-profile attacks, the physical reality of the war has increasingly shifted towards the Russian capital. On Saturday night and early Sunday, Ukraine launched one of its largest aerial assaults on Russia, launching ۸۲۲ drones that killed seven people. Moscow’s regional governor said the city had witnessed “one of the most massive drone attacks in recent memory”.
What could Russia mean by ‘consequences’?
Burnham made clear on Tuesday that the UK will not back down on providing military support to Ukraine.
Work and pensions minister Lilian Greenwood said the UK would continue to “stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine” despite the warning from Moscow.
“The Russians should be clear that our resolve remains completely steadfast in backing our friends in Ukraine and providing them with the equipment that they need,” she told Sky News.
Russia’s embassy in the UK did not elaborate on what kind of “consequences” London might face.
Russia could opt to target British military or intelligence interests overseas or step up cyberattacks and other forms of hybrid warfare. The European Union and the UK announced coordinated sanctions against Russia last month after reports of digital sabotage across Europe.
But Russia’s threat also raises the question about whether Putin would be willing to attack Britain and risk NATO intervention.
Fedorov told the BBC on Tuesday that Moscow may “interpret that the UK is part of the war”. “Russia has the right to strike the country which is supporting Ukraine,” he told Radio ۴’s flagship Today programme.
“Nothing can be excluded, from my personal point of view,” Fedorov said. “There are a lot of people at the top in Moscow who are saying that all the enterprises that are linked to Ukraine could be struck by Russia because they are legal targets.”
He said military experts in Moscow “are saying, ‘Don’t worry,’ that Russia can strike the UK and NATO will do nothing. Trump will not allow NATO to answer. Taking into account the current instability in NATO, it’s quite possible that NATO will do nothing, will make a statement or will use Article ۴ but not Article ۵.”
“Donald Trump is still the keeper of the keys in NATO,” he added.
Article ۵ of the North Atlantic Treaty states that an armed attack against one NATO member shall be considered an attack against them all. Trump has been at loggerheads with the transatlantic alliance, which he has accused of not doing enough to support the US-Israel war on Iran.
NATO’s Article ۴, by contrast, states that member countries will consult together whenever any member feels their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened but does not automatically lead to military action.
