Monitoring Desk: Russia has accused Britain of being directly involved in a Ukrainian missile strike on the Russian city of Bryansk and warned that Ukraine has also attempted to attack major gas pipeline infrastructure that serves as a vital energy lifeline for the region.
The Kremlin on Wednesday said that British specialists were involved in the Ukrainian strike that allegedly used British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles, adding that Moscow would take Britain’s role “into account” when determining its response.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the launch of the missiles could not have occurred without British technical assistance.
“It is obvious that the launch of these missiles was impossible without British specialists. We are aware of this, we know it well, and we naturally take it into account,” Peskov said.
The accusations came after a deadly missile strike on Bryansk, a Russian city near the Ukrainian border. According to Bryansk regional governor Alexander Bogomaz, the attack killed at least six civilians and injured more than 40 people.
Bogomaz described the strike as a “terrorist missile attack”, stating that seven Storm Shadow missiles were fired at the city on March 10. Local authorities said a workshop at an industrial enterprise was damaged in the strike.
Russian investigators said the attack involved personnel from Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, claiming the objective was to intimidate the population and disrupt government operations in the region. March 11 has been declared a day of mourning in Bryansk, and authorities have promised assistance to the families of victims.
Ukraine, however, said the strike targeted a key facility involved in producing missile components, while Moscow accused Kyiv of deliberately targeting civilians.
At the same time, the Kremlin raised alarm over reported Ukrainian drone attempts to attack compressor stations linked to the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines, which transport Russian natural gas across the Black Sea to Turkey and other regions.
Russian officials said such attacks threaten critical energy infrastructure, especially during what they described as a global energy crisis intensified by recent U.S.–Israeli military actions against Iran.
“Moscow views reports of Kyiv’s attempts to strike the infrastructure of the Blue Stream and TurkStream pipelines as extremely alarming,” Russian officials said, adding that Russia had repeatedly warned Turkish partners about alleged Ukrainian plans to sabotage pipelines in the Black Sea.
Peskov said Russia’s military would determine the country’s response to the Bryansk attack, while reiterating that one of the objectives of Russia’s ongoing “special military operation” in Ukraine is to eliminate the capability of such strikes against Russian territory.
The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation into the Bryansk missile strike as tensions between Moscow and Kyiv—and their international backers—continue to escalate.
