Russia warns UK against provoking Ukraine

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Russian Defense Ministry called "a direct provocation" the statement by the UK armed forces minister who said Ukrainian forces have every right to strike targets at the Russian territory.

In a statement, the ministry said that if Kyiv takes the remarks as advice and implements it, Russia will hit decision centers in Kyiv.

"The Russian Defense Ministry noticed the statement by Great Britain's Armed Forces Minister James Heappey that "not necessarily a problem" if weapons, provided by Great Britain to the Kyiv regime, will be to hit targets on the Russian territory.

"We would like to emphasize that London's direct provocation of the Kyiv regime to such actions, in case of an attempt to implement them, will immediately lead to our proportional response.

"As we warned, the Russian armed forces are in round-the-clock readiness to launch retaliatory strikes with high-precision long-range weapons at the decision-making centers in Kyiv," the ministry said.

It also said Western military advisers, currently working in the Ukrainian decision-making centers in the Ukrainian capital, "will not necessarily be a problem" when Russia makes decisions on retaliatory actions.

Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war on Feb. 24, the UK has sent large quantities of military supplies to Ukrainian forces battling the Russians, including surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, carriers, and reconnaissance drones.