Moscow Threatens British Military Targets Over Ukraine Weapons Deployment

Russia issued a stark warning Thursday that it may target British military installations both within Ukraine and internationally should Kyiv deploy long-range British cruise missiles to strike deep into Russian territory. The threat emerged one day after Moscow blamed Ukraine for attacking a shopping center in Russian-controlled Donetsk with British Storm Shadow missiles, claiming the strike wounded civilians including children.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova declared that Britain stood “one step away” from becoming legally accountable for what Moscow characterizes as civilian-targeting terrorism. She cautioned that Britain’s current course would result in “catastrophic consequences” if the government did not reverse direction immediately, according to Reuters.

“We have repeatedly warned that any British military installations and equipment in Ukraine and beyond its borders could be targeted in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory carried out using British weapons,” Zakharova stated at a Moscow news briefing. She called on London to abandon its “hostile, aggressive line” to prevent the conflict from escalating to an “entirely new level.”

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham visited Kyiv on August 24 for Ukraine’s Independence Day, where he announced that a defense contractor could disclose classified details about British components in the long-range SCALP cruise missile. Ukraine and France are working to establish production lines for the weapon system within Ukrainian territory, according to the U.K. government.

The SCALP missile, France’s version of Britain’s Storm Shadow, can strike targets beyond 155 miles away. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov accused the U.K. of “participating in the war” and “pouring fuel on the fire.”

A British Ministry of Defense representative told Reuters that London remained aligned with Ukraine and remained committed to supplying equipment necessary for Kyiv to defend itself against President Vladimir Putin’s invasion. The spokesperson affirmed that Russia faced no uncertainty regarding the British government’s determination to confront Russian aggression in Ukraine and protect allied nations.

During his Kyiv trip, Burnham rejected Moscow’s “outrageous threats” and pledged that British support for Ukraine would persist without wavering. Russia had previously warned Britain on August 17 that it would face a “price” following reports that British-made drones provided to Ukraine struck military and industrial targets inside Russia for the first time, according to The Times on August 15.

Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, confirmed Thursday that he met with CIA Director John Ratcliffe in Moscow earlier this week, Reuters reported. Naryshkin characterized the encounter as routine and said the two discussed matters relevant to their intelligence agencies, while Trump similarly described Ratcliffe’s trip as “semi-routine,” according to Axios.