Russia’s foreign ministry said Thursday it could strike British military installations and equipment “in Ukraine and beyond its borders” if Kyiv kept firing British long-range cruise missiles into Russia. Maria Zakharova, speaking in Moscow, said London was “one step away” from being legally complicit — in Moscow’s telling — in “terrorism” against Russian civilians, and warned of “catastrophic consequences” unless Britain changed course. Al Jazeera called it the strongest direct threat yet to a NATO member that has been among Ukraine’s closest suppliers.
The warning sat on two decisions. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, in Kyiv on August 24, said a British contractor could release classified details of U.K.-made parts in the Franco-British SCALP/Storm Shadow missile so Ukraine could move toward building the weapon at home. France had already licensed SCALP technology in July. Moscow also accused Ukraine of using Storm Shadow missiles against a shopping centre in Russian-controlled Donetsk, an attack it said wounded civilians, including children. Zakharova told London to “abandon the hostile, aggressive line.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson told Reuters that Britain stood “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine and would keep sending what Kyiv needed “to defend itself against Putin’s illegal invasion.” “Russia should be in no doubt about the resolve of this government to stand against Russian aggression in Ukraine and against the U.K. and our allies,” the spokesperson said. Burnham has said Britain is not changing course. Zakharova has now put British sites, including those outside Ukraine, into the sentence.
Sources: Al Jazeera; Reuters.
