Britain now 'directly involved in war in Ukraine', Russian ambassador to UK says
21 November 2024, 15:10 | Updated: 21 November 2024, 15:45
Britain is now directly involved in the war in Ukraine, the Russian ambassador to the UK has said.
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Ukraine has used US and UK long-range missiles in Russian territory this week after getting permission.
Residents in the Russian village of Marino, close to the city of Kursk, claimed to have found fragments of the UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile on Wednesday.
Andrey Kelin, the Russian ambassador to the UK, told Sky News that "this firing cannot happen" without the UK's involvement.
A day earlier, Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine had hit the country with ATACMS missiles supplied by the US.
Five missiles were shot down and one damaged, with fragments causing a sizeable fire at a military facility in the region, it said in a statement.
LBC has contacted the Foreign Office for a response to Mr Kelin's comments.
On Tuesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a new doctrine lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons if Ukraine were to use Western-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia.
Earlier on Thursday, Ukraine said Russia had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at Ukraine in retaliation over its use of UK and US rockets in Russian territory.
The missile, which has never been used in combat before, was fired from a base in Astrakhan early this morning.
It targeted critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Kyiv’s air force said.
An industrial enterprise was damaged in the attack as well as it causing two fires.
However, a Western official has claimed the weapon used was a ballistic missile not an ICBM.
Timur Syrlanov, a Russian military analyst, said Ukraine should be "trembling" over the potential use of the rocket.
The UK is 'acting as an aggressor' by allowing Ukraine to use British missiles, says this caller
"In this situation, we will not use nuclear weapons, but the neo-Nazis and their Western allies, I think, will appreciate in the coming days the blow that will be dealt to Ukraine’s critical infrastructure and, possibly, to targets in Kyiv itself," he told Russian newspaper Moskovky Komsomolets.
"Let them tremble, be afraid, and wait for landings anywhere.
"Moreover, the enemy understands perfectly well that our weapons can reach any targets throughout Ukraine."
Until now, Russia has been using smaller Iskander missiles in Ukraine.
