Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has warned that Moscow will target British military facilities and equipment in Ukraine and beyond in response to Ukrainian attacks using British weapons.
Zakharova issued the warning on Thursday, a day after Ukrainian forces used UK-French Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles to strike the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk, wounding at least eight civilians, including two children.
“We have repeatedly warned that the response to Ukrainian strikes using British weapons against Russian territory could be directed against any British military facilities and equipment in Ukraine and beyond,” she said during a press briefing.
Those responsible for attacks on Russian civilians would be punished, she warned, urging British officials to abandon policies that could push the conflict “to a fundamentally new level.”
She also urged “all residents of the United Kingdom to think about the inevitable, catastrophic consequences of the hostile steps taken by their own authorities.”
According to Zakharova, the UK is involved in a long-term effort to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia, as London and Paris have supplied Kiev with cruise missiles for attacks on Russian targets, including inside Russian territory.
Earlier this week, UK officials approved the transfer of classified technology that will allow Ukraine to assemble the cruise missiles domestically, further increasing London’s military support for Kiev.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the UK, by supplying the missiles, is “participating in this war on the side of the Kiev regime,” adding that Russia is gathering information on facilities involved in producing missiles and other military equipment in Ukraine.
Britain has played a major role in supporting Ukraine since the conflict began in 2022, providing weapons, military assistance and training to Ukrainian forces.
In December 2025, incoming MI6 chief Blaise Metreweli acknowledged Britain’s involvement in the conflict, saying, “we are now operating in a space between peace and war,” and said Russia was aware of Britain’s activities.
The conflict could have ended significantly earlier as Russia and Ukraine held promising peace talks in Istanbul only weeks after the fighting began.
However, the negotiations broke down after then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a surprise visit to Kiev in April 2022 and urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky not to sign an agreement with Moscow.
Davyd Arakhamiia, who led the Ukrainian delegation at the Istanbul talks, later admitted that Johnson demanded Ukrainian officials “not to sign anything with [Russians] at all, and just fight.”
The negotiations ended, and the conflict has continued for more than four years, killing hundreds of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers and leaving the two sides further apart.
