Russia has threatened the UK with unspecified “consequences” after accusing Ukraine of using British-made drones to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.
Ukraine has fired record numbers of drones at Russia in recent days, striking a range of military and industrial targets as well as warehouses of the Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries.
The Russian embassy in the UK claimed these attacks involved British drones and that the UK was “deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis”.
“London‘s actions will inevitably carry consequences for which it will have to answer,” it said, and added that the deeper its involvement in the conflict, “the higher the price it will pay”.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) told BBC News that Britain stands “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine.
“Russia should be in no doubt about the resolve of this Government to stand against Russian aggression, in Ukraine and against the UK and our allies,” the spokesperson said.
Watch: Zelensky urges G7 to stop critical supplies reaching Russia
Russia expanding secret bases that can launch drones deep inside Nato territory
Russia has built secret bases from which it will be able to launch long-range suicide drones deep into Nato territory, according to a report.
The Kremlin has built and expanded at least 10 new bases with at least 59 new launch rails, according to an investigation by The Telegraph using satellite imagery and leaked documents.
The bases are designed to fire large numbers of jet-powered drones that can overload Ukrainian air defences as Moscow bombards military and civilian targets across the country.
But situated along its borders with Ukraine and Belarus, the hi-tech drones will also be able to reach Kyiv’s allies in Nato, the report said.
Russia expanding secret bases that can launch drones deep inside Nato territory
Nato has raised the alarm over the threat of a Russian attack amid repeated incursions by Moscow’s dronesArpan Rai18 August 2026 05:59
Watch: Wildberries logistics centres hit in Ukraine’s biggest drone strike of the year
Drone hits another Wildberries warehouse near Moscow
A drone has hit a warehouse of Russian e-commerce company Wildberries near Moscow and caused a fire at the site, regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said.
He said the fire has now been extinguished but the drone attack damaged other buildings, including private houses, apartment buildings, shops and a power station.
At least three people were injured in the attack, he said.
In the past month, Ukraine has hit at least seven of the 10 largest Wildberries warehouses, which it says is complicit in Moscow’s war against Kyiv.
UK says it stands ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with Ukraine after Russia fumes over British drones
Britain has said it stands united with Ukraine against Russia’s aggression after Moscow fumed over British-made drones being used in strikes on Russia.
The Russian embassy in the UK on Monday accused London of complicity in aiding Ukraine with drones that are hitting targets deep inside Russian territory.
The UK, it said, is “deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis”.
“In doing so, the United Kingdom is acting as an accomplice and co-perpetrator of the bloody crimes and terrorist attacks,” the Russian Embassy to the UK said.
It added: “London’s actions will inevitably carry consequences for which it will have to answer,” and the deeper its involvement in the conflict, “the higher the price it will pay”.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) told BBC News that Britain stands “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine.
“Russia should be in no doubt about the resolve of this Government to stand against Russian aggression, in Ukraine and against the UK and our allies,” the spokesperson said.
The UK was “committed to providing the equipment Ukraine needs to defend itself against [Russian president Vladimir] Putin’s illegal invasion,” they said.
Russia tells North Korea they are making ‘new and righteous world order’
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has hailed North Korea’s role in fighting to eject Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region, writing in a letter that they succeeded in driving out a “Ukrainian Nazi clique”.
North Korea and Russia are working to establish a “new and righteous world order,” Lavrov wrote in a letter to North Korean foreign minister Choe Son Hui, according to the North’s state news agency KCNA this morning.
Pyongyang has deployed troops to Russia since late 2024, when it helped Moscow retake a portion of Kursk that had been captured by a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Vladimir Putin’s regime routinely calls the Ukrainian administration “neo-Nazis,” even though the country has a Jewish president who lost relatives in the Holocaust and who heads a Western-backed, democratically elected government.
Putin has vowed to fight on in Ukraine until Moscow secures the country’s “demilitarisation”, “denazification” and neutrality, unless Kyiv accepts a deal that achieves those goals.
Russia fires top economist after he compares Putin’s economy to 1917 revolution
The chief economist of a Russian state development bank has been fired after reportedly drawing comparisons between Russia’s present day economy and the 1917 revolution.
Andrei Klepach, one of Russia’s most prominent macroeconomists who worked for VEB, made the remarks to a financial forum in May. They were reported by Russian media only last week.
He warned that the country was falling behind the West and China and suffering mounting economic damage from the war in Ukraine, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Russia fires top economist after he compares Putin’s economy to 1917 revolution
The economist’s claims come as Ukraine has repeatedly attacked Russia’s oil refineries and largest retailer Wildberries this summerArpan Rai18 August 2026 04:25
Russia downs 180 drones in Moscow region overnight
Russian forces have downed at least 180 drones in the Moscow region overnight, the capital’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in the early hours today.
Overall, 620 drones were heading for the region surrounding the Russian capital between Monday evening and 5am, he said.
Pictured: A resident collects things from a private house damaged during a Russian missile and drone strike in Odesa
Bryony Gooch18 August 2026 03:00
Huge inferno engulfs ‘Russian Amazon’ Wildberries after Ukraine strike
Huge inferno engulfs ‘Russian Amazon’ after Ukraine’s largest ever drone strike
Ukraine has successfully targeted Wildberries hubs seven times in six weeks as part of a campaign to bring the war to Russia Bryony Gooch18 August 2026 02:00NewerOlder