A firefighter washes up his face as he works at a compound hit by Russian missiles (Picture: Reuters)
Vladimir Putin is planning to strike British targets ‘anywhere’ if UK weapons are deployed on Russia’s territory.
This is the latest ultimatum from the Kremlin, prompting further fears that Nato would bet involved with soldiers on the ground, resulting in a global conflict.
Russia’s elite has been dangling the same threat ever since UK foreign secretary David Cameron said Ukraine had a right to use British missiles to attack its own territory.
His comments enraged Putin, who has been suffering major losses on Black Sea ports in the occupied Crimean peninsula and on oil refineries in the heartland of his country.
Volunteers carry the body of a person killed in the strike (Picture: Reuters)
The aftermath of the bombing on Kharkiv (Picture: Reuters)
In such a scenario, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that her government will target the UK ‘on Ukraine’s territory and beyond its borders’.
Just hours after Zakharova’s statement, foreign minister Lavrov said Ukraine is already using weapons from the US and other Western countries to target civilian infrastructure in Russia.
Amid the ongoing Russian offensive unfolding in the region of Kharkiv where a number of towns and villages have been half-destroyed, Volodymyr Zelensky has been urging his Western allies to supply more weapons.
Putin has been taking advantage of the shortage of defence missiles in Ukraine in the last month.
Emergency workers carry the body of a person (Picture: Reuters)
Paramedics help wounded woman in Kharkiv (Picture: Reuters)
In response, the US is expected to announce an additional £216 million in military aid for Ukraine, two US officials have said.
This will be the fourth instalment of military aid for Ukraine since Congress passed a long-delayed foreign aid bill late last month and comes as the Biden administration has pledged to keep weapons flowing regularly.
The package includes high-mobility artillery rocket systems, or HIMARS, as well 155mm and 105mm high-demand artillery rounds, according to the officials.
It follows a monthly gathering on Monday of about 50 defence leaders from Europe and elsewhere who meet regularly to co-ordinate getting more military aid to Ukraine.
At this latest meeting, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said Ukraine was in a ‘moment of challenge’ due to Russia’s new onslaught on Kharkiv.
He pledged to keep weapons moving ‘week after week’.
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