Russia warns UK will ‘pay price’ for supplying drones to Ukraine

UK prime minister Andy Burnham has said the UK will continue to give its full support to Ukraine after Russia threatened consequences over strikes by British-made drones.The Russian embassy to the UK said on Monday that Britain had been deliberately escalating the Ukraine conflict and the deeper its involvement, “the higher the price it will pay”.Burnham, asked during a visit to Wolverhampton on Tuesday for his response to Moscow’s threat, said: “This is the UK doing what it has long said it would do, which is to support Ukraine 100 per cent against this illegal war led by Vladimir Putin.“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. We will be there in Ukraine’s hour of need, and that won’t change.”READ MOREThe use of the drones made by UK companies is part of Ukraine’s “deep strike” campaign. However, it is not the first time Ukraine has deployed British-made equipment in Russia, having long used Storm Shadow missiles.Kyiv has stepped up its attacks this year, with long-range missiles and swarms of drones increasingly targeting Russia’s military industries and energy facilities.[ EU plans ‘most far-reaching sanctions against Russia in coming months’Opens in new window ]It has also hit large depots of Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries, burning merchandise worth billions of euro and bringing the war home to the Russian public more than four years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.Russia’s embassy to the UK said on Monday that the reports confirmed that “London is deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis” and accused Britain of “seeking to contain Russia and inflict maximum damage on it by proxy”.“London’s actions will inevitably carry consequences for which it will have to answer,” it said. “The deeper its involvement in the conflict and the greater its support for Kyiv’s terrorist machinery, the higher the price it will pay.”A British ministry of defence spokesperson said: “Britain stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and we are committed to providing the equipment Ukraine needs to defend itself against Putin’s illegal invasion. Russia should be in no doubt about the resolve of this government to stand against Russian aggression, in Ukraine and against the UK and our allies.”Ukraine’s strategy of long-range drone strikes is thought to be intended to cut Moscow’s revenue for the war and to make Russian civilians feel the impact of the invasion.Kyiv launched three times as many such strikes in July as it did in January, according to data from Acled, an independent conflict monitor.Repeatedly hitting deep into Russia has forced Moscow to stretch its air defences over a larger area. Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday it had shot down 598 Ukrainian drones over 19 Russian regions as well as the Black Sea, the Azov Sea and the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.A grave sculpture at a cemetery as smoke rises above a Wildberries facility following a reported Ukrainian drone strike near Podolsk, Moscow region. Photograph: EPA Officials said on Monday that Ukrainian long-range attacks on Russia killed seven people overnight, while five civilians died in Ukraine after strikes by Moscow’s forces.Russian missile attacks on Tuesday killed ⁠10 ⁠people and injured ​eight ⁠in a village in ⁠Ukraine’s northeastern ​Kharkiv ‌oblast, the ‌regional governor ‌said.The strike on the village of Pechenihy ‌damaged 10 private buildings, a ​cafe, a post office, a ⁠shop and ​at least ​seven cars, ​Oleh Syniehubov ​said ‌on ​Telegram.A rapid development of largely home-grown technologies, including the Flamingo cruise missile and the FP-1 long-range fixed-wing drone from Fire Point, have allowed Ukraine to bomb warehouses, oil refineries, ports and military facilities up to 2,400km from its border.Ukraine can now almost match the deep-strike capability Russia has had since the beginning of the war using large drones and cruise missiles, though it does not possess the high-speed ballistic missiles Moscow frequently uses. At the same time, both sides’ air defences are stretched to the point of near exhaustion, leading to an increase in civilian casualties and worries that the impact of the conflict beyond the immediate front lines will only increase into the winter. – Guardian