Arabic version: مستشار للكرملين يحذر من تهديدات لمصانع الطائرات المسيّرة البريطانية

According to BBC News, Andrei Fedorov, a Kremlin adviser and Russia’s former deputy foreign minister, said UK factories producing drones for Ukraine could face a “semi-military” response by “unknown sources”. He made the comments on BBC Newsnight while discussing the UK’s agreement to provide blueprints for British-made components used in the Scalp missile, the French version of the UK’s Storm Shadow cruise missile.

Fedorov said Vladimir Putin was under “serious” pressure to take measures against the UK, citing public opinion polls, journalists and mass media. Asked what such a response could involve, he said something could happen to enterprises and factories producing drones for Ukraine, adding that they could be attacked “not by Russia, but by from unknown sources”.

The remarks followed comments by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who criticised the British decision to share missile blueprints with Ukraine. Peskov said the move prevented “even the slightest progress” towards peace and said the Russian military was gathering information to identify missile production sites to destroy. Prime Minister Andy Burnham responded: “Who started the fire? That’s the question, isn’t it?”

Burnham visited Ukraine on Monday, his first official international trip since becoming prime minister in July. He met President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and chaired his first meeting of the “coalition of the willing”, established by the UK and France under Sir Keir Starmer. Burnham said he was likely to travel to New York in September with European leaders to lobby President Trump on Ukraine’s defence needs, including Patriot interceptor missiles. Zelensky has said Ukraine hopes to secure 300 Patriot missiles before winter, when Russia may increase attacks on energy infrastructure.