Britain is now “directly involved” in the war in Ukraine after Kyiv used its Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets in Russia, the Russian ambassador has claimed.
The UK is believed to have allowed the weapons to be used by Ukrainian forces within the Kursk region of Russia, while the US has given permission for its ATACMS weapons to be fired at targets in Russia.
Speaking to Sky News, ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin said Britain was “directly involved in this war, because this firing cannot happen without NATO staff, British staff as well”.
He went on: “The US administration, support by France and the UK, has made a deliberate decision to make these strikes, which seriously escalates the situation, and it can bring a collision between the nuclear powers."
Mr Kelin was asked whether there was a difference between Ukraine using British or US-made missiles and Russia using Chinese, Iranian or North Korean equipment or manpower.
He responded: “On that subject, I can say easily that we have plenty of mercenaries from different countries that are fighting right now on the side of Ukraine.
"We just have seen in the Kursk area of the Polish unit, which has a special uniform worn by Polish soldiers. So what's the matter?"
Responding to his comments, a Downing Street spokesperson told the broadcaster that the Government would not be “deterred or distracted by commentary from Vladimir Putin or the Russian ambassador”.
Britain had previously allowed Ukraine only to use its tanks, anti-tank missiles and other equipment inside Russia.
Earlier on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to strike the UK after confirming reports that Moscow had launched a medium-range ballistic missile attack on a Ukrainian military facility.
He said in a televised address: “In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons on November 21 of this year, the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the Ukrainian defence industry.
“One of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was tested in combat conditions, in this case, with a ballistic missile in a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead.”
He added: “We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities.”
His address came after Kyiv claimed that Russia had fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, a weapon designed for long-distance nuclear strikes, at the city of Dnipro on Thursday.
But the claim was disputed by three US officials, who told Reuters it was an intermediate range ballistic missile that has a smaller range.
