Will Putin cross a red line? Unusual threat of an attack on British soil

Russia is threatening to attack British weapons factories, after the UK transferred secret plans for the production of Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine. A senior advisor to Putin stated that Moscow does not rule out 'paramilitary action' against manufacturers of drone and missile components, through 'unknown entities'. The West fears this is more than a war of words.

Russia has issued an unprecedented threat against the UK, threatening to attack British factories producing military components for Ukraine. The threat comes after the UK transferred secret plans for the production of Storm Shadow missiles to Kyiv. Andrei Fedorov, a senior advisor to President Putin, stated in an interview with the BBC that Moscow does not rule out 'paramilitary action' against these manufacturers, through 'unknown entities' – a hint at sabotage operations that cannot be directly linked to the Russian military. Western concern is based on reports in the Telegraph about a new wave of covert attacks on weapons factories in Europe, including mysterious fires and explosions in Italy, Bulgaria, and Estonia. According to assessments, the Kremlin is recruiting local gang members for sabotage operations, aiming to stay below the threshold that would trigger NATO's Article 5. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who visited Kyiv, condemned the threats and retorted: 'Who started the fire? That's the question, isn't it?' Meanwhile, Ukraine transferred to the UK an intelligence database codenamed 'Avenger', containing millions of images of Russian equipment, to be used for training spy detection systems.