Moscow’s embassy in London accuses UK of acting as ‘accomplice to bloody crimes and terrorist attacks by Ukrainian neo-Nazis’

Russia has threatened Britain with consequences after UK-made drones were used by Ukraine in strikes on Russian territory for the first time.

Moscow’s embassy in London said Britain would pay a “higher price” should it continue to support Kyiv in its armed struggle against Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

“Reports that the Kyiv regime is using British drones to carry out strikes deep within Russian territory confirm that London is deliberately betting on an escalation of the Ukraine crisis, while hypocritically claiming to be striving for peace,” the embassy said, according to state media.

“The United Kingdom is thus acting as an accomplice and accessory to the bloody crimes and terrorist attacks of Ukrainian neo-Nazis seeking to contain our country and to inflict maximum damage upon it using the hands of others,” it continued, using a common slur for Kyiv’s leadership.

“London’s actions will inevitably have consequences, for which it will have to answer. The deeper its involvement in this conflict and the greater its support for the terrorist machine of Kyiv, the higher the price will be.”

It was not immediately clear what Russia was threatening to do in retaliation for Ukraine’s use of British drones.

But last week, Putin threatened to seize British vessels in response to a Western crackdown on his shadow fleet of tankers being used to transport sanction-busting shipments of oil.

US intelligence recently suggested the Russian president could sanction an attack against Nato territory within weeks to dampen the alliance’s support for Kyiv.

The intervention from Moscow’s embassy comes after it was reported that drones made by two UK companies had been used in Ukraine’s escalating deep strike campaign against Russian oil refineries, which has caused more than £35bn in economic damage, according to estimates.

It has led to fuel shortages and rolling blackouts in parts of Russia and occupied Crimea, bringing the consequences of war home to many Russians far away from the front lines.

The report by the Sunday Times named the Nyan drone, made by Callen-Lenz, a subsidiary of defence giant BAE Systems.

The carbon-fibre drone, which has a wingspan of 2.9m, has a range of around 150 miles, meaning it can strike parts of Russia close to Ukraine. It is launched by a pneumatic catapult and can carry a payload of around 20kg.

The Times said drones made by a second company have also been used in long-range strikes, but it was keeping the company’s name anonymous for security reasons.

Citing sources in the Ukrainian army, the newspaper reported that targets struck by the British-made drones included oil refineries in Volgograd and Yaroslavl, near Moscow.

It is not the first time British-made weapons have been used to strike into Russian territory. Storm Shadow cruise missiles have previously been used by Ukraine’s air force to strike targets across the border.

Unconfirmed reports suggested the missile was used to strike Russian and North Korean soldiers in the southern Kursk region, which was once partially occupied by Kyiv’s forces, in late 2024.

Ukraine first confirmed a cross-border strike with Storm Shadows a year later, when the weapon was used to target a chemical factory and the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia’s Rostov region during two separate attacks.

British drones have also been used in Ukrainian mid-strike operations, hitting targets in occupied Ukraine.

Donations by Britain of weapons have repeatedly triggered threats of reprisals from Russian officials, including Putin.

The Russian president has previously claimed that he could consider nuclear attacks against Nato members supplying Ukraine with conventional weapons used in strikes on his country.

Ukraine has mostly used its own, homemade drones in strikes on Russian territory because of the difficulty it has in obtaining permissions to use Western missiles for similar missions.

The UK, US and France have periodically signed off on such attacks, but that has become less frequent because of dwindling stockpiles and Donald Trump’s fear that they could trigger an escalation.

Last week, Russia deployed a warship armed with cruise and hypersonic missiles close to a German island in the Baltic Sea. The Admiral Kasatonov, a frigate equipped with nuclear-capable Zircon hypersonic missiles, was seen off the coast of the island of Fehmarn, a popular destination for tourists, following Kremlin threats to attack British and EU vessels.

The appearance of the warship in the Baltic, a vital shipping zone, appears to mark the latest escalation between Russia and Nato.

On Sunday, The Telegraph revealed that Russia was building secret bases near its border with Ukraine. They are being used to build hi-tech attack drones capable of striking deep inside Nato territory, posing a long-term threat to the alliance.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/08/17/russia-britain-will-pay-for-giving-ukraine-drones/