High-level Kremlin adviser warns the UK could face ‘some visible reaction’ to support for Ukraine
British factories manufacturing drones for Ukraine could face targeting by “unknown sources”, a high-level Kremlin adviser has warned. After Britain agreed to share long-range missile blueprints with Kyiv, Russia’s former deputy foreign minister, Andrei Fedorov, said he could not “100% exclude” the prospect of “semi-military” action.
Speaking on BBC Newsnight as Andy Burnham travelled to Ukraine for his first trip to Kyiv, Mr Fedorov said: “Sooner or later, there might be not only verbal, but maybe some visible reaction from Russia towards the UK.”
Kremlin adviser to Vladimir Putin and former deputy foreign minister for Russia Andrei Fedorov (Image: BBC Newsnight)
Asked to elaborate, he said: “There are different discussions how it should look like – it might be so-called technical reaction, maybe some hackers attack from an unknown source, not from official level, of course.
“There might be different political steps and I cannot exclude 100% that there might be some semi-military, for example.”
Pressed to define “semi-military” he said: “For example, something might happen with enterprises, with the factories which are producing drones for Ukraine, etc etc.”
The UK Government says it has worked with more than 30 companies across the UK to scale up innovative drone technology to meet Ukraine’s battlefield needs.
One Ukraine production hub is TEKEVER in Swindon, the largest publicly announced UK drone factory relevant to Ukraine. Located in the Grade II* listed Spectrum Building, the 254,000sq ft site serves as a core hub for the production of AR3 EVO and AR5 unmanned aerial systems.
Andy Burnham’s visit to Ukraine was his first official international visit (Image: Getty)
Ukrainian drone manufacturer Ukrspecsystems opened a major £200million manufacturing facility in Mildenhall, Suffolk, UK, in February 2026 to build surveillance drones like the PD-2 and Shark.
However, Ukrspecsystems has yet to become fully operational because it has not received approval to export technology.
Meanwhile, the UK has agreed to declassify blueprints for British-made components for the Scalp missile, a French-produced version of the Storm Shadow that has already been used to hit targets in Russia.
That decision has drawn strong condemnation from Russia, with president Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it would add “fuel to the fire” of the conflict.
But Mr Burnham told reporters in Kyiv: “Who started the fire? That’s the question, isn’t it?” Making his first international visit, the Prime Minister urged Ukraine’s allies to send more interceptor missiles to Kyiv as Ukraine struggles under continued Russian bombardment.