Russia threatens London over supply of British drones to Ukraine

The relations between London and Moscow are enormously complex and not exactly friendly (poisoning, persecution of dissidents in British territory, expulsion of spies, disinformation and fake news campaigns, hacks, attempts to destabilize democracy and influence elections, sabotage, attacks on infrastructure, economic sanctions...). But politics is one thing and finances another, and none of that prevents the Russian State and related oligarchs from using the City without opposition as a giant washing machine to launder money.

Vladimir Putin, through his embassy in the English capital, has now threatened the United Kingdom, indicating that Ukraine's use of drones manufactured by two British companies "constitutes a deliberate escalation that will have consequences, and the greater London's involvement in the conflict, the greater the price to pay." Very harsh language that translates into the first international crisis for Andy Burnham.

The British Prime Minister, placed between a rock and a hard place, has responded that his Government "is not an occasional traveling companion of Ukraine, but rather its commitment to the Slavic country is one hundred percent to help it defend itself from Russian aggression", and its policy has not changed in that sense compared to its predecessors (Johnson, Sunak and Starmer). The United Kingdom is the fourth largest aid donor to Kyiv – both individually and in collaboration with former EU partners – after the US, Germany and France, with a contribution to date of €28.5 billion.

Although the British drones are not long-range and can only penetrate about three hundred kilometers beyond the border, they are part of the Ukrainian strategy of harassing Russia with hundreds of them, while the Flamingo missiles it has developed attack oil refineries and storage centers, and are capable of reaching Moscow. The damage caused to date is estimated at around forty billion euros, and London is preparing to provide Zelensky with an electronic system to neutralize enemy air defenses.