Russia warns of strikes on British military targets
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it could strike British military targets inside and outside Ukraine in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russia using British missiles. The warning came from Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who called on Britain to back off from what she described as London's hostile stance on Ukraine, warning that it risked taking the conflict to an entirely new level.
At the same Moscow news briefing, Zakharova said Britain and France were "playing with fire" by supplying sensitive missile technology to Ukraine. This followed Britain's announcement on Monday that it would allow Kyiv access to classified technology to start its own production of Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles, capable of carrying out strikes deep within Russia. France has already agreed to license the technology for the European missile.
In a more pointed statement carried by Russian state news agency TASS, Zakharova said London and Paris "bear direct responsibility for their participation in terrorist attacks carried out by the Kiev regime on Russian territory." She accused the two capitals of "frantically trying to dodge responsibility for strikes deep into our country's territory" by transferring what she called "so-called assembly functions" to the Ukrainians. She added: "It won't work. Paris, London, Berlin, and other capitals bear direct responsibility for participating in terrorist attacks."
Zakharova also highlighted what she described as the destructive role of the "EU troika" — Germany, France, and Britain — in "inciting and fueling the Ukrainian crisis." She noted that while Germany "dreams of creating the strongest army in Europe," France and Britain were announcing steps to transfer military technology to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. She cited London's confirmation that it had transferred "technological data for the independent assembly of Scalp/Storm Shadow cruise missiles at Ukrainian enterprises," and said French concern Safran had been equipping the Ukrainian-British Flamingo cruise missile with guidance systems for over a year.
Zakharova warned that Western decision-makers should know they were "playing with fire," adding that "the consequences could be completely unpredictable, including for themselves."
Kremlin dismisses NATO attack reports
Alongside the threats against British targets, the Kremlin on Thursday dismissed US media reports that Russia could attack a NATO member state and that the purpose of CIA Director John Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow this week had been to warn Russia against such a move.
Asked to comment on the reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "A lot of this kind of scare-story material is being published right now. Of course, it has nothing to do with reality and nothing to do with the intentions of the Russian Federation."
The Wall Street Journal reported that Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow on Tuesday had followed a US intelligence assessment that Russia could be planning to test NATO with a limited assault on an allied country. The report, which was not independently confirmed by other sources cited in this article, suggested the assault could range from a cyber-attack to a small-scale incursion, probably in a Baltic nation.
The Guardian reported that US President Donald Trump described the visit on Wednesday as "semi routine." Earlier on Thursday, the head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service said he held a "working-level meeting" with Ratcliffe and that they discussed unspecified, sensitive matters within the remit of their respective intelligence services.
Broader tensions and regional concerns
The latest exchange comes amid months of escalating Ukrainian attacks on Russia's oil refining infrastructure and other sites, which are imposing an increasing economic toll. Russia is believed to be contemplating a further escalation of its war with Ukraine, according to The Guardian. The same report noted that Russia has made frequent threats against Ukraine's Western allies during the war, including thinly veiled nuclear threats and others apparently aimed at diplomatic missions in Kyiv.
The Kremlin has adopted ever more bellicose rhetoric, much of it aimed at a domestic audience that this year has seen the war brought to its doorstep, The Guardian reported. In the space of a few days, Russia invoked the threat of its nuclear arsenal against Japan over its territorial claim to the disputed Kuril Islands.
Concerns over Moscow's intentions have been escalating amid a rise in incidents of Russian hybrid warfare attributed to Moscow across Europe — from cyber-attacks and drones to arson at facilities associated with supporting Ukraine's war efforts, The Guardian reported.
Poland this week announced it had taken delivery of its first shipment of South Korean Black Panther main battle tanks, which will be deployed near the border with Russia's Kaliningrad region. Cezary Tomczyk, Poland's deputy defence minister, said this month that Warsaw was preparing for the possibility of a full-scale conflict. Tomczyk told Super Express media: "We are preparing for war, hoping it never happens."