MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Britain is 
directly participating in the Ukraine conflict and actively working to prolong it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, responding to London’s announced plans to provide Kyiv with classified technical information needed to assemble long-range cruise missiles domestically.
According to a Downing Street press release, the UK government has authorized European defense manufacturer MBDA to release classified information concerning UK-made components for SCALP, the French-produced version of Britain’s Storm Shadow. The air-launched missiles use shared French and British technology and have a range exceeding 250 km.
The release of the information is set to be announced by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham during a visit to Kyiv on Monday, his first international trip since taking office last month.
Responding to the announcement, Peskov said Britain is “participating in this war on the side of the Kyiv regime” and is “methodically and regularly adding fuel to the fire and scheming to prevent any development of the peace settlement process.”
“Our armed forces are carrying out the relevant work and obtaining the necessary data in order to identify the production sites for such missiles and other military equipment, and are taking measures to destroy these locations,” Peskov added.
London said the decision to release the information will allow “the French and Ukrainians to move forward with the Ukrainian assembly of the missile.”
“The Ukrainian people should be in no doubt: The UK is behind you today and for as long as it takes,” Burnham said ahead of his visit to the Ukrainian capital, where he is also expected to meet with Vladimir Zelensky and chair his first meeting of the ‘coalition of the willing’, established by Britain and France under his predecessor, Keir Starmer.
Moscow has maintained that the UK and other suppliers of weapons to Kyiv are directly responsible for the deep-strike campaign, which it says has frequently hit civilians.
According to the Sunday Times, drones manufactured by BAE Systems and another unnamed British company have been used to hit targets in Russia over the past six months, including two oil refineries. The UAVs reportedly include the Nyan, a jet-powered drone produced by a BAE Systems subsidiary.
In a statement last week, the Russian Embassy in London called the UK “an accomplice and co-perpetrator of the bloody crimes and terrorist attacks” committed by Ukraine. It warned that “the deeper its involvement in the conflict and the greater its support for Kyiv’s terrorist machinery, the higher the price it will pay.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that London will face consequences if it continues supplying drones used by Ukraine for strikes deep inside Russia.
“We have every right to regard the proudly proclaimed direct involvement of British missile forces in strikes against Russia as participation in the war, with all the consequences that entails,” Lavrov said.
On Monday, Ukraine hosted a meeting of its key European backers to press for critical air-defense supplies and more pressure on Moscow.
The meeting of the Coalition of the Willing jointly chaired by the leaders of Britain, France and Germany.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham was in Kyiv for his first international trip since entering 10 Downing Street.