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The Kremlin on Wednesday accused British specialists of involvement in a deadly Ukrainian strike on the Russian city of Bryansk that used British Storm Shadow missiles and said it would take Britain’s role “into account.”
The Bryansk regional governor said Tuesday’s strike killed at least six civilians and injured 37 in what he called a “terrorist missile attack,” without saying what was hit.
Asked by Reuters if there would be a military response to the use of British missiles against sovereign Russian territory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would take into account the British involvement.
“It is obvious that the launch of these missiles was impossible without British specialists,” Peskov told reporters. “We are aware of this, we know it well, and we naturally take it into account.”
There was no immediate comment from London, although Russia has repeatedly said that Ukraine needs Western expertise and Western-supplied targeting data and satellite imagery to fire advanced missiles deep into Russia.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the strike was premeditated and directed against civilians, and challenged the United Nations to assess what had occurred.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his nightly video address on Tuesday, said the strikes targeted a Russian facility that produced critical missile components.
“Our fighters struck one of the important Russian military factories in Bryansk,” Zelenskyy said, referring to a report from top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.
“The plant produced electronics and components for Russian missiles. The very missiles that strike our cities, our villages and civilians.”
2 killed in Kharkiv strike
Within Ukraine, local officials in Kharkiv said a Russian drone hit a civilian business on Wednesday, killing two people and injuring five.
“Unfortunately, there is preliminary information about two people killed,” Ihor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said that according to preliminary information, all of the wounded were in serious condition. He added that the attack caused a fire at the business.
Kharkiv, located 30 kilometres from the Russian border, withstood early advances by Russian forces after their full-scale invasion in February 2022 and has since been a frequent target of Russian air attacks.
Ukraine and Russia engaged in talks mediated by the envoys sent by U.S. President Donald Trump before the outbreak of the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran on Feb. 28.
The next round of trilateral talks could take place in Istanbul, but there are no specific details yet — only an understanding that the peace process will continue, Peskov said on Wednesday.
Russia and Ukraine held three sessions of talks in the Turkish city last year. Negotiations with U.S. mediation have been held this year in Abu Dhabi and Geneva.
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