Russia has warned the United States and the United Kingdom that they would be “fully dragged into conflict” if they supported Ukraine’s alleged plan to attack the annexed Crimean Peninsula with long-range missiles.
Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday that Moscow possesses information that Ukraine plans to strike Crimea with US-supplied HIMARS long-range rocket systems and British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
“The use of these missiles outside the zone of our special military operation would mean that the United States and Britain would be fully dragged into the conflict and would entail immediate strikes on decision-making centers in Ukraine,” Shoigu said.
Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and considers it to be outside the scope of its invasion – which is focused in eastern and southern Ukraine, where Ukraine is fighting to retake territory. Kyiv, which says it is battling for its survival in a war of colonial conquest, said it wants to reclaim all of its territory, including Crimea, the home of Russia’s Black Sea naval base.