UK Support for Ukraine Stays Firm After Russia Warning

UK support for Ukraine will not waver, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Tuesday, after Moscow warned of “consequences” following confirmation that British-made drones were used in recent Ukrainian strikes inside Russia.

Burnham rejects Russian pressure

“We are not fair-weather friends, we will be there in Ukraine’s hour of need and that won’t change,” Burnham said.

The Russian embassy in London had earlier accused Britain of “deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis,” warning that “the deeper its involvement in the conflict… the higher the price it will pay.” The embassy said “London’s actions will inevitably carry consequences for which it will have to answer,” without detailing what action Moscow might take.

Asked about the threat, Burnham said the UK was “providing support so that Ukraine can defend itself,” calling it the consistent British position “all the way through this conflict, by previous prime ministers” and one that “remains the case with me.”

Strikes deepen inside Russia

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Moscow and other targets deep inside Russia, focusing on oil refineries and logistics sites tied to online retailer Wildberries. The campaign has directly hit Russia’s domestic fuel supplies and dented its economy.

Hundreds of Ukrainian drones have targeted the Moscow region over the past two days. Regional governor Andrey Vorobyov said Tuesday a 10-year-old girl was injured and a Wildberries warehouse was damaged. Five people were killed in a residential area of Russia’s Rostov region over the weekend.

Overnight, Russian officials said roughly 620 drones were flown toward the Moscow region; air defenses destroyed more than 180 of them, though several people were wounded. On Saturday night, Ukraine fired about 822 drones at Russia, with 600 aimed at Moscow, in what a regional governor called one of the most massive drone attacks on the capital in recent memory. Seven deaths were reported across Russia from that assault.

Civilian toll mounts on both sides

The front line has barely moved for months, with Russia controlling roughly a fifth of Ukrainian territory, but casualties behind the lines keep climbing. United Nations officials said Ukraine’s civilian death toll of 437 people last month was the highest since May 2022.

A Russian foreign ministry spokesman told the Tass news agency that 69 people, including three children, were killed in Russia over the past week. In Ukraine, the latest Russian attacks killed 17 people, including 10 in the village of Pechenihy in the northeast on Tuesday, where two missiles struck homes, a cafe and a post office. Three more Ukrainians died in Sumy, two in Zaporizhzhia and two in Kherson.

UK-made drones under scrutiny

Two British companies are known to have built drones supplied to Kyiv. A military source confirmed to the BBC that UK drones were used in the recent attacks on Russia, which have caused an estimated £35 billion in economic damage.

In April, the UK Ministry of Defence announced it would supply Ukraine with tens of thousands of drones, including long-range strike devices, in its largest military aid package so far. The ministry said Britain remained “committed to providing the equipment Ukraine needs to defend itself” against the invasion.

Burnham told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a visit to a British naval base last month that Kyiv “can count on the UK for as long as it takes.” He also said Britain would share its new “Stone Cloak” technology, designed to jam Russian air defenses electronically.

Russia has long objected to British drone technology in the war. In 2024, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said drones using UK components had struck Russian territory, including a fuel depot in the Kamensky district of Rostov region.

Hybrid warfare fears spread in Europe

Beyond direct strikes, concern is growing over Russian-linked hybrid warfare targeting Ukraine’s Western allies. Incidents are rarely officially confirmed as Russian-sponsored, but numerous cases across Europe have involved drones flying near sensitive military and industrial sites.

Last week, German officials warned of a “real, very acute” risk from hybrid attacks after a drone loaded with explosives was defused near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle airport, a military hub for Germany and its NATO allies. Berlin is now planning to grant its BND and BfV intelligence agencies sweeping new powers to counter drone threats and disrupt hostile actors.