Russia has said that British military facilities in Ukraine "and beyond" could be targeted in response to Kiev's use of UK missiles to strike Russia.
"We have repeatedly warned that any British military installations and equipment in Ukraine and beyond could be targeted in response to Ukrainian strikes using British weapons on Russian territory," foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing in Moscow on Thursday.
In her remarks, Zakharova described the topic of the transfer of Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles to Kiev as the “quintessence of London's involvement” in the ongoing Ukraine war.
She said the UK had avoided answering questions about the use of Storm Shadow missiles in Ukraine since their initial transfer in 2023, but that "their use became obvious" at a certain point.
A ‘strategic defeat’
Zakharova said the use of the missiles had since "expanded beyond London's declared area," recalling statements by former UK foreign secretary David Cameron in May 2024, when he said it was up to Ukraine to decide how and where to use British weapons.
She also said Moscow took note of British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s announcement that the UK would transfer classified blueprints for British-made components of the SCALP missile, a French version of the UK's Storm Shadow cruise missile, for Ukraine to produce domestically.
"Andy Burnham's government understands, I believe, where this will lead," Zakharova said, accusing the UK government of continuing to seek to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Russia, an effort she said was "doomed to failure."
She went on to call on UK residents to "consider the inevitable catastrophic consequences of the hostile actions of their own authorities."
"We also urge the British leadership to thoroughly analyse the situation once again and immediately, in the most decisive and unequivocal manner, abandon its hostile, aggressive stance" against Russia, she added.
