Russia Threatens to Strike UK Over British Missiles Used by Ukraine
Moscow said British military facilities and equipment could be targeted in response to Ukrainian attacks using U.K. weapons, escalating its warning after London agreed to provide Kyiv with classified Storm Shadow technology.
Russia threatened Thursday to strike British military facilities and equipment inside and outside Ukraine in retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory using U.K. weapons.
Maria Zakharova, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, issued the warning during a briefing in Moscow, tying the threat to Britain’s expanding support for Ukraine’s long-range missile capabilities.
She called on London to reverse what she described as a “hostile stance,” warning that its policy risked taking the conflict “to an entirely new level.”
British Military Assets Put on Notice
Zakharova said a Russian response to Ukrainian strikes involving British weapons could extend beyond targets located in Ukraine.
The warning covered British military facilities and equipment both within the country and beyond its borders, restating a position Moscow first set out in 2024.
The threat followed Britain’s decision this week to give Kyiv access to classified technology needed to begin producing Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles.
France has already licensed the technology for the missile, known in French service as SCALP.
The weapon is capable of striking targets deep inside Russia.
'Playing With Fire'
Moscow framed the technology transfer as a further escalation by Britain and France rather than simply an expansion of Ukraine’s domestic defense production.
Zakharova accused the two countries of “playing with fire” by transferring sensitive missile technology to Kyiv.
She said London and Paris were attempting to distance themselves from responsibility for strikes deep inside Russia by shifting the missile “assembly” role to Ukraine.
The consequences, she warned, “could be unpredictable, including for them.”
Russia issued a similar warning in May 2024 after then-U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Ukraine had the right to use British-supplied weapons against targets inside Russia.
At the time, the Russian Foreign Ministry told the British ambassador that British military facilities and equipment “on the territory of Ukraine and beyond” could be targeted in response.
