Russia’s risk to bomb Britain: Kremlin lists ‘potential targets’ in London, Leicester, Reading and Suffolk it claims are making drones for Ukraine
The Kremlin has published a list of ‘potential targets’ in London, Leicester, Reading and Suffolk it claims are making drones for Ukraine.
Also on the list were a number of Ukrainian drone-producing factories in Germany, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic as well as factories producing components in Germany, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic, Israel and Turkey.
Dmitry Medvedev, the hawkish deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, followed up with a threat on X, writing: ‘Sleep well, European partners!’
‘Russian Defence Ministry’s statement must be taken literally: the list of European facilities which make drones & other equipment is a list of potential targets for the Russian armed forces.
‘When strikes become a reality depends on what comes next.’
One of the sites listed as a potential UK target is in Mildenhall, Suffolk, which is also the location of an RAF base.
It comes after the Russian military launched hundreds of drones at Ukraine in an overnight raid.
At least 15 people were killed and 90 injured in the attacks, which followed a short ceasefire over Orthodox Easter celebrations at the weekend.
Fire burns at the site of recycling materials following a Russian strike in Kyiv on April 16
Smoke rises over Kyiv following a Russian strike on April 16
A large fire burns near a shopping centre in Kyiv following an overnight Russian missile strike, April 16
The Russian Defence Ministry said the European nations’ decision to ramp up drone production for Kyiv was a ‘deliberate step leading to a sharp escalation of the military-political situation across the entire European continent and the creeping transformation of these countries into Ukraine’s strategic rear area’.
The ministry warned that attacks on Russia involving the drones manufactured in Europe for Ukraine are fraught with ‘unpredictable consequences’.
‘Instead of strengthening the security of European states, the actions of European leaders are increasingly drawing these countries into a war with Russia,’ it said.
‘The European public should not only clearly understand the true causes of the threats to their security but also know the addresses and locations of “Ukrainian” and “joint” enterprises producing drones and components for Ukraine on the territory of their countries,’ the ministry said.
A 12-year-old boy was among four victims in Kyiv following the overnight Russian attacks, as three people were killed in Dnipro in the southeast.
Russia launched 324 drones and three ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight in its biggest barrage in almost two weeks.
Air defences intercepted 309 of the drones.
Russia also fired a powerful FAB-1500 glide bomb, weighing 1.5 metric tons, at the central part of Sloviansk before dawn Wednesday.
The blast destroyed a children’s sports facility that was a city landmark.
In a strike on the southeastern city of Dnipro, Russian hit two universities overnight, damaging academic buildings, dormitories and nearby homes.
The blast wave shattered more than 1,000 windows in surrounding buildings and there were no military targets in the area.
Ukraine proceeded with its long-range drone attacks, with the Russian Defence Ministry reporting Wednesday that its air defences intercepted 85 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Ukrainian drones targeted an industrial facility in Sterlitamak, a Russian city about 1,300 kilometers (roughly 800 miles) east of the border with Ukraine.
Radiy Khabirov, governor of the Bashkortostan region where Sterlitamak is located, said in an online statement Wednesday that several drones were shot down over Sterlitamak’s ‘industrial zone,’ and debris fell on one of the facilities there, starting a fire.
One person died in the attack, he said.
Two children, aged five and 14, were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai region.
A firefighter works to extinguish a blaze at a recycling materials site following a Russian strike in Kyiv on April 16
As well as fires in Kyiv, damage was reported in the Podilskyi, Obolonskyi, Shevchenkivskyi and Desnianskyi districts
A general view of the city shows a large fire at a secondary raw materials facility following an overnight Russian missile strike
‘Every day we need air defence missiles – every day Russia continues its strikes,’ President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
The leader has made it clear Ukraine’s top diplomatic priority is securing allies’ help to buy and build more air defence systems as the war rages on.
With no plans announced for further US-mediated talks with Russia, Zelensky was visiting three European capitals in 48 hours to try to secure promises of further military and financial support.
Germany and Ukraine agreed on a defence package valued at 4 billion euros (£3.5 billion), and Norway has pledged 9 billion euros in assistance, Ukrainian officials said.
‘Italy in particular is very interested in developing joint production, especially in the area of drones, a sector in which we know well that Ukraine, in recent years, has become a leading nation,’ Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni told reporters after meeting with Zelensky in Rome.
After more than four years of fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has battle-tested drone interceptor expertise and has developed groundbreaking air defence technology, but it lacks the money to scale up production to levels that would press its advantage.
Zelensky said he is asking European countries to keep adding money to a fund that allows the purchase from the United States of American-made weapons for Ukraine, especially the Patriot air defence system that can stop Russian cruise and ballistic missiles.
Between November and March, Russia launched 27,000 Shahed-type drones, nearly 600 cruise missiles and 462 ballistic missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.
Zelensky is also championing joint weapons production agreements, including for drones and missiles, while pushing for the European Union to move quickly on providing a promised 90 billion euro (£78 billion) loan.
Defence leaders from about 50 nations who regularly gather to coordinate weapons aid for Kyiv held an online meeting Wednesday chaired by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and British Defense Secretary John Healey.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also attended.
Ahead of the meeting, Britain announced it will send 120,000 drones to Ukraine this year, its biggest delivery of the weapons so far.
Officials didn’t say how soon they will be sent.
Ukraine’s war effort has gained momentum in recent weeks, according to Western officials and analysts.
Its short-handed troops have disrupted Russia’s spring offensive, thanks in part to drones and ground robots, and its long-range strikes have dented Russian oil exports and some manufacturing output.
Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Wednesday that last month Ukrainian troops recaptured nearly 50 square kilometers (20 square miles) of territory from Russian forces.
Also in March, Ukrainian deep strike operations hit 76 Russian targets, including 15 oil refining facilities, he said.
But the Iran war drains stockpiles of advanced air defence missiles that Ukraine needs, and Kyiv’s money is running short.
‘We cannot lose sight of Ukraine’ amid the Middle East conflict, NATO chief Rutte said.
