Russia has issued a chilling warning that Britain will face "consequences" after UK-made drones were used by Ukraine for the first time. Moscow's embassy in London said the UK was "betting on an escalation" of the war while "hypocritically declaring a desire for peace."
Diplomatic statement warns of 'higher price'
A diplomatic mission statement said Britain would pay a "higher price" if it continued to support Kyiv in its armed struggle against Vladimir Putin's invasion. The warning comes after strikes using British-made drones caused a reported £35bn in economic damage to Russia.
State media reported the embassy as saying: "Reports of the Kyiv regime's use of British drones to strike deep into Russian territory confirm that London is deliberately betting on an escalation of the Ukrainian crisis while hypocritically declaring a desire for peace."
UK accused of being 'accomplice' to 'terrorist attacks'
The statement continued: "The United Kingdom is thus acting as an accomplice and accessory to the bloody crimes and terrorist attacks of Ukrainian neo-Nazis in order to contain our country and inflict maximum damage on it through proxy means. These actions by London will inevitably have consequences for which it will be held accountable. The deeper its involvement in the conflict and the greater its support for Kyiv's terrorist machine, the higher the price will be."
It did not specify what Russia was threatening to do in retaliation for Ukraine's use of British drones. However, Putin last week threatened to seize British vessels in response to a Western crackdown on his shadow fleet of tankers transporting sanction-busting shipments of oil. US intelligence recently suggested the Russian leader could sanction an attack against NATO territory within weeks to dampen the alliance's support for Kyiv.
UK-built drones used in deep-strike campaign
The threat comes after it emerged that drones built by two separate British companies were used in widespread and successful targeting of military and industrial targets in mainland Russia, including refineries and warehouses of online retailer Wildberries. As first reported by The Sunday Times, Ukrainian forces deployed the weapons as part of its deep-strike campaign, which uses long-distance drones to hit targets and has sparked fuel shortages and rolling blackouts in some regions of Russia.
Targets have included oil refineries, naval bases, logistics hubs and transport networks, including one attack more than 1,000 miles over the border. British-manufactured Storm Shadow missiles had earlier been used in the conflict, but experts believe the new phase of attacks has a greater impact as oil revenue is so critical to the Russian economy.
A senior defence source told The Sunday Times: "Russia has been very effective at keeping the West nervous about hitting it too hard. These attacks mean the UK is effectively signalling to Russia and our allies that we're not [nervous] any more."
