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The Russian ambassador to the UK has blamed Britain for Ukraine’s strikes on its airfields – and warned the action could lead to World War III.
Andrei Kelin claimed it was thanks to Britain’s advanced technology that Ukraine was able to hit targets deep inside Russian territory.
Up to 40 Russian bombers and other large planes were destroyed at five bases on Sunday.
Kelin claimed in an interview with Sky News, without providing evidence, that British intelligence played a major role in the covert operation, named Operation Spiderweb.
The plan, 18 months in the making, was orchestrated by a former clothes merchant who worked as a DJ on the side.
He said: ‘This kind of attack involves, of course, provision of very high technology, so-called geo-spatial data, which can only be done by those who have it in possession. And this is London and Washington.
‘I don’t believe that America [is involved], that has been denied by President Trump, but it has not been denied by Britain.
‘We perfectly know how much London is involved, how deeply British forces are involved in working together in Ukraine.’
Kelin said Ukraine’s actions were ‘bringing the conflict to a different level of escalation’ and said Kyiv should not ‘try to engulf World War III’.
On Thursday night, Downing Street neither confirmed nor denied Britain’s involvement in the operation.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: ‘We never comment on operational matters at home or abroad.’
Britain is a leader in the geo-spatial data field – but the technique wasn’t necessarily needed to find and target the Russian bombers, which were parked out in the open on the runways of five air bases.
An expert has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use ‘game-changing’ nuclear weapons in a show of strength in response to the operation.
According to Russia’s new nuclear doctrine, published in 2024, any attacks on military infrastructure which ‘disrupt response actions by nuclear forces’ could lead to nuke strikes in return.
The drones used in Operation Spiderweb were smuggled into Russia and launched remotely off the back of trucks.
Destroying the bombers, well out of reach of air defences, means months of repair, weakened deterrence, and morale collapse for the Kremlin.
Ukraine says nearly 120 kamikaze drones simultaneously launched from the trailers, striking the airbases and crippling the Russian air force.
In total, they inflicted in the region of $7billion worth of damage.
Putin has vowed revenge for the audacious attacks, and has launched several strikes on Ukraine since then.
Last night, four people died and 20 more injured after a Russian strike on the capital of Kyiv, its mayor said.
Search and rescue operations are underway after multiple explosions were heard and falling debris set fires across several districts of the city.
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