Why is Russia threatening UK with ‘consequences’ over Ukraine drones?
Al Jazeera · LC · trust 71/100
play Live Sign up Show navigation menu Navigation menu News Show more news sections Africa Asia US & Canada Latin America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East Explained Sport Opinion Video More Show more sections Features Economy Human Rights Climate Crisis Investigations Interactives In Pictures Science & Technology Podcasts Travel Sponsored Content play Live Click here to search search Sign up Navigation menu caret-left Russia-Ukraine war Is the war entering a new phase? Starving on the front lines Four years of war Zelenskyy’s open letter to Putin caret-right EXPLAINER News | Russia-Ukraine war Why is Russia threatening UK with ‘consequences’ over Ukraine drones? Russia is suffering attacks inside its own territory as long-range drones strike its strategic assets.
x whatsapp-stroke copylink google Add Al Jazeera on Google info People walk in front of burning Wildberries warehouses following a Ukrainian drone attack, according to the regional governor, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Koledino, Moscow Region, Russia, on August 16, 2026 [Stringer/Reuters] By Federica Marsi Published On 18 Aug 2026 18 Aug 2026 Russia has warned the United Kingdom it could face “consequences” for supplying drones to Ukraine that have been used in long-range attacks inside Russian territory.
“London’s actions will inevitably carry consequences for which it will have to answer,” the Russian embassy in London said in a statement on Monday. “The deeper its involvement in the conflict and the greater its support for Kiev’s terrorist machinery, the higher the price it will pay.”
“London is deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis, while hypocritically professing a desire for peace,” the embassy wrote on Telegram.
“In doing so, the United Kingdom is acting as an accomplice and co-perpetrator of the bloody crimes and terrorist attacks.”
Former Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Fedorov told the BBC on Tuesday that “consequences” could include the possibility of attacks. He said many military experts advising the Kremlin are convinced that NATO would not respond forcefully if Russia were to hit the UK. “Trump will not allow NATO to answer,” he said.
The threat follows reports that Ukraine has been using long-range drones to hit key Russian targets, including oil refineries and logistics facilities. Drones produced by two British companies have been used in a number of these attacks, according to the findings of an investigation by The Times newspaper in the UK.
On Monday night and into early Tuesday, the mayor of Moscow said Ukraine had launched at least 637 drones in the direction of the Russian capital, of which 197 were shot down by Russian air defences.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence has not confirmed that its drones have been used to attack Russian territory. Since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has repeatedly warned London and Ukraine’s other Western allies that providing long-range weaponry would be seen as an escalation .
After Monday’s warning from the Russian embassy, however, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the UK government would continue to support Ukraine “100 percent”.
“This is the UK doing what it has long said it would do, which is to support Ukraine 100 percent against this illegal war led by [Russian President] Vladimir Putin,” Burnham said.
“We are providing support so that Ukraine can defend itself, and that’s been the British position all the way through this conflict by previous prime ministers. It remains the case with me. We are not fair-weather friends.”
In April, Britain’s Defence Ministry announced the biggest-ever drone package for Ukraine as it began deliveries of at least 120,000 drones. The package included “thousands of long-range strike drones, intelligence and reconnaissance drones, logistics drones and maritime capabilities”, the ministry said in a statement.
Then in June, London announced a 752 million pound ($996m) funding package including 150,000 drones for Ukraine by the end of 2026.
That followed a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Downing Street in June 2025, at which Zelenskyy announced that the two nations would begin coproducing long-range drones.
But London’s involvement is not limited to drones. The UK was the first country to pledge modern Western battle tanks for Ukraine – Challenger 2 models – to replace Ukraine’s Soviet-era tanks. It was also the first to supply Kyiv with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles to hit Russian forces behind the front lines.
The UK has also funded and supplied thousands of air-defence missiles as well as antiarmour missiles, artillery systems and armoured and support vehicles and has provided training to Ukrainian soldiers.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks inside Russia this year, increasingly targeting military industrial and energy facilities in a bid to slash Moscow’s oil revenues funding the war and to make citizens feel the impact of the conflict, which began in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said drones containing UK components or configurations had been used to attack targets within Russia, including the Kamensky Plant, a Russian military-industrial facility in the Rostov region.
The BBC reported that these drones were used to hit military and industrial targets, including refineries and warehouses of the Russian retail giant Wildberries , known as Russia’s Amazon.
Ukraine in recent weeks has struck multiple Wildberries warehouses , which Ukraine said are used to supply Russian military components. The company itself and the Kremlin deny the Ukrainian claims.
Last week, the company was forced to limit orders after Ukrainian drones hit a warehouse in Yekaterinburg, 2,087km (1,297 miles) from the Ukrainian border. On Tuesday, a warehouse east of Moscow belonging to Wildberries was also damaged in a drone…
Read the original at Al Jazeera →
Open in TruthVane →