Moscow Issues Stark Warning to Britain Over Storm Shadow Missiles

Russia warned Britain Thursday that British military installations and equipment could become targets if Ukraine uses British-supplied long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russian territory.

According to Fox News, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the U.K. was "one step away" from becoming legally complicit in what Moscow described as attacks on civilians.

She warned that continuing Britain's current policy toward Ukraine could lead to "catastrophic consequences," Reuters reported.

"We have repeatedly warned that any British military installations and equipment in Ukraine and beyond its borders could be targeted in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory carried out using British weapons," Zakharova said during a briefing in Moscow.

Her comments followed Russia's accusation that Ukraine had used British Storm Shadow missiles to strike a shopping center in Russian-controlled Donetsk a day earlier. Moscow said civilians, including children, were wounded in the attack.

Zakharova called on British officials to "immediately, in the most resolute and unequivocal manner, abandon the hostile, aggressive line" to prevent the conflict from reaching an "entirely new level."

The warning came as Britain continued to expand its military cooperation with Ukraine.

During a visit to Kyiv on Aug. 24 for Ukraine's Independence Day, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that a defense contractor could release classified information about British components used in the long-range SCALP cruise missile.

Ukraine and France are seeking to establish production lines for the missile in Ukraine. SCALP, the French version of Britain's Storm Shadow, has a range of more than 155 miles.