Russia warns UK of ‘consequences’ over drones used by Ukraine

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would view British involvement in long-range strikes as participation in the war

The UK will face consequences if it continues to supply drones used by Ukraine for strikes deep inside Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned. Moscow has accused Ukraine of targeting civilian infrastructure and carrying out indiscriminate strikes that kill civilians.

According to The Sunday Times, drones made by BAE Systems and another unnamed UK company have been used in attacks over the past six months, including strikes on oil refineries in Volgograd, southwestern Russia, and Yaroslavl, northeast of Moscow. The UAVs reportedly used in long-range strikes included the Nyan, a jet-powered drone manufactured by a BAE Systems subsidiary.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham affirmed that the UK would continue to “support Ukraine 100%.”

“We are not fair-weather friends, we will be there in Ukraine’s hour of need and that won’t change,” he said, according to the BBC.

“You know, I feel sorry for Britain if it intends to stand with Ukraine until the very end,” Lavrov told VGTRK’s Pavel Zarubin on Tuesday.

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“The President [Vladimir Putin of Russia] has warned that we have the right to act in any part of the world’s oceans if anyone encroaches on our interests or our property. Likewise, we have every right to regard the proudly proclaimed direct involvement of British missile forces in strikes against Russia as participation in the war, with all the consequences that entails,” Lavrov added.

The Russian Embassy in London released a statement on Monday, calling the UK “an accomplice and co-perpetrator of the bloody crimes and terrorist attacks” committed by Ukraine.

“The deeper its involvement in the conflict and the greater its support for Kiev’s terrorist machinery, the higher the price it will pay,” the embassy said.

Ukraine has stepped up attacks in recent months, targeting Russian port infrastructure, energy sites and warehouses belonging to Wildberries, the country’s equivalent of Amazon. In a number of cases, drones have also struck residential areas, including high-rise apartment buildings and houses.

An attack on industrial and civilian sites in Nizhnekamsk, Russia’s Tatarstan region, last week killed 13 people, while a strike on a Wildberries warehouse in Kotovsk, Tambov Region, on July 18 left seven workers dead.

One of Ukraine’s deadliest drone strikes hit a college dormitory in Starobelsk, in Russia’s Donbass region, in May, killing 21 people, mostly young women.