Russia has threatened Britain with “consequences” over reports that Ukrainian forces used drones manufactured by UK companies to carry out strikes inside Russia.

The Russian Embassy in London accused the UK of deliberately escalating the war by supporting Ukraine’s long-range strike campaign, saying Britain was seeking to “contain Russia and inflict maximum damage on it by proxy.” It warned that the deeper Britain becomes involved, “the higher the price it will pay.”

The threat followed news that Ukrainian forces had used two British-built drone systems to strike targets inside Russia for the first time. The Sunday Times, citing Ukrainian military sources, reported that the drones had been used against targets including oil refineries in Volgograd and Yaroslavl over the past six months.

Moscow warns Britain of “consequences”

The Russian Embassy said in a statement that the reported use of British-made drones “confirms that London is deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis.”

It warned that British actions would “inevitably carry consequences for which it will have to answer,” without specifying what form those consequences could take.

The warning comes as Ukraine has significantly expanded its long-range strike campaign against Russian military and energy targets. Kyiv has increasingly used large drone swarms to hit targets deep inside Russia, seeking to disrupt military production, logistics, and energy revenues while forcing Moscow to spread its air defenses across a much larger area.

Burnham says UK will continue backing Ukraine

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham rejected Moscow’s warning, saying Britain would continue supporting Ukraine despite Russian threats, The Independent reported on Tuesday.

“This is the UK doing what it has long said it would do, which is to support Ukraine 100 per cent against this illegal war led by Vladimir Putin,” Burnham said during a visit to Wolverhampton.

“We are providing support so that Ukraine can defend itself,” he said, adding: “We are not fair weather friends. We will be there in Ukraine’s hour of need, and that won’t change.”

UK Work and Pensions Minister Lilian Greenwood similarly said Britain’s resolve to support Ukraine remained “completely steadfast” and that the country would continue providing the military equipment Kyiv needs.

The UK Ministry of Defence also said Russia should have “no doubt” about the government's resolve to oppose Russian aggression in Ukraine and against Britain and its allies.

British drones expand Ukraine’s deep-strike capabilities

According to The Sunday Times, one of the British systems used by Ukraine is the Nyan, a jet-powered one-way attack drone produced by BAE Systems subsidiary Callen-Lenz, with a reported range of more than 150 miles.

The second system has a reported range exceeding 600 miles, although its manufacturer was not identified for security reasons. The drones provide Ukraine with additional long-range strike capacity that can be produced and deployed in larger numbers than more expensive Western cruise missiles.

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British drones hit Russia for first time in Ukraine’s deep-strike campaign – The Sunday Times

The reported deployment marks a further expansion of UK military support for Ukraine as Kyiv increasingly takes the fight to Russian military and energy infrastructure inside Russia.

Satellite imagery shows the damage Ukraine's Flamingo missiles inflicted on Russia's main rocket-assembly plant, the Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ reported on 18 August. The overhead photo show a collapsed roof section over a key hall at the Progress Rocket Space Center in Samara, a Russian city about 900 km from the war zone in Ukraine. It puts a measurable figure on damage Kyiv had until now only claimed.

The satellite photo centers the damage on building 106A, Exilenova+ said. Crews there wire the rockets' control systems, cabling and instrument bays. The imagery shows two missile hits on that hall, the channel reported.

The collapsed roof section runs 85 meters long and 35 meters wide. Ukraine struck the plant on 15 August with its home-built Flamingo cruise missiles, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed at the time.

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Reported Flamingo strike hits Samara industrial area housing factory that builds rockets for Russia’s Starlink rival

A rocket hall with no domestic replacement

Progress is the only plant in Russia that serially assembles the Soyuz-2 rocket family, used to launch military reconnaissance and targeting satellites, Exilenova+ noted. 

The plant also lofts the Rassvet satellites built by Bureau 1440, Russia's answer to Starlink. The country has no full alternative to the Samara site, they added. Next to building 106A stands 106B, the complex's final-assembly hall.

Ukraine's Fire Point company builds the Flamingo, a long-range cruise missile. Its growing reach lets Kyiv strike defense and space plants far from the front. Overhead imagery has exposed earlier Flamingo damage deep inside Russia.

Ukrainian drones struck Moscow and the surrounding oblast overnight into 18 August, cutting power, setting off fires, and hitting a warehouse of the Russian online retailer Wildberries, monitoring Telegram channels reported. Russian officials claimed air defenses shot down most of the drones and blamed the damage on falling wreckage. Ukraine's military did not claim the attack.

Fires and casualties across Moscow Oblast

Ukrainian monitoring Telegram channel Exilenova+ began posting footage of the strikes around 4:00. Fires broke out on an apartment-block roof and in another building in a town east of Moscow, and a retail pavilion caught fire near a shopping mall in a town to the southeast, Russian news Telegram channel Astra reported. Moscow Oblast Governor Andrei Vorobyov claimed air defenses downed more than 150 drones over the oblast. He stated three people were hurt, and that debris damaged homes.

The attack knocked out electricity for more than 5,000 customers and 46 "socially significant" facilities in two districts east of the capital, knocking 109 transformer substations offline, the regional utility Mosoblenergo said. It blamed equipment damage early on 18 August and estimated about two hours to restore power.

A Wildberries warehouse hit

A drone hit a Wildberries logistics warehouse in the region, where Vorobyov said a fire was quickly contained with no casualties. Wildberries said debris only grazed a wall, that staff had been evacuated in advance, and that its goods were unharmed. Footage shared by Exilenova+ showed a large hole near the roof and no visible fire.

Russia's claims

Russian officials gave sweeping counts. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed 620 drones flew toward the capital region overnight, with 180 downed there. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it destroyed 791 drones over 15 Russian regions and occupied Crimea. In a separate daily tally, it claimed 1,671 drones over 24 hours, Interfax-Russia reported. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti called the claimed drone figure an absolute record. 

Ukraine's response

Ukraine's General Staff listed strikes on an ammunition depot in Donetsk Oblast and several drone-control points in Russia's Belgorod Oblast and Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast, but made no mention of the Moscow attack. 

Ukrainian defense-technology company Fire Point posted video of drones over the region, citing reported explosions near a Moscow oil refinery and a possible hit on warehouse infrastructure. Fire Point manufactures the FP-1—one of the types of long-range drones widely used in such attacks.

A campaign on a Russian retail giant

Wildberries warehouses have become a frequent Ukrainian target. On 16 August, Ukraine struck the retailer's logistics sites near Moscow, halting operations, and Kyiv has now knocked out seven of its 10 largest warehouses. The strikes have cost the company at least 17% of its warehouse space and pushed it to seek storage in Kazakhstan.