A Kremlin adviser has said UK drone factories producing equipment for Ukraine could face attacks by “unknown sources”, linking the risk to the UK’s decision to share missile component blueprints with Kyiv. Andrei Fedorov, a former deputy foreign minister, said Russia was under “serious” pressure to take “certain measures” following the sharing of technical information relating to British cruise missile parts. He made the comments on BBC Newsnight and said the pressure was coming from “public opinion polls”, journalists and wider media coverage. Kremlin Adviser Links action to Missile Blueprint SharingFedorov said any response could be “semi-military” in nature, adding that the attacks on sites involved in drone production might not be carried out by Russia itself. Asked what such an action could involve, he replied: “It could take the form of something might happen with enterprises, with factories which are producing drones for Ukraine.” He added that those factories “could be attacked not by Russia, but by from unknown sources”. The remarks came as the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticised the UK’s plan to provide technical blueprints connected to a French version of the Storm Shadow cruise missile. Peskov said the decision blocked even “the slightest progress” towards peace talks. He also said Russia’s military was already gathering information to locate any missile production sites and destroy them. The UK has agreed to hand over blueprints for British-made components for the Scalp missile, a version used by France that is based on the UK’s Storm Shadow. According to the UK’s agreement, the blueprints would allow Ukraine to manufacture the long-range weapon components domestically. Burnham to press Trump on Ukraine Defence NeedsResponding to the comments, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “Who started the fire? That’s the question, isn’t it?” Burnham said he plans to travel to the United States next month with European leaders to lobby US President Donald Trump on Ukraine’s defence requirements. He told reporters the trip was expected to go ahead, though he said the details were not “fully confirmed”. It would be his first visit to the US since taking office in July. Burnham’s announcement followed his official visit to Ukraine on Monday, during which he met President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and chaired the first meeting of the “coalition of the willing”, established by the UK and France under his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer. Patriots supply concerns and wider air-defence pushBurnham has reiterated UK support for Ukraine after escalating Russian strikes in recent weeks, including an attack on a shopping centre last week that killed at least 16 people. Ukraine has relied heavily on American supplies of Patriot interceptor missiles to defend against Russian ballistic missile attacks. Officials say stockpiles are running low, with the availability affected by the war in Iran, leaving Ukraine more exposed to Russian strikes. Zelensky has said he is hoping to secure 300 Patriot missiles ahead of winter, when Russia is expected to step up attacks on energy infrastructure, as it has done in previous years. In an interview with Bloomberg, Burnham said he felt the situation was “really confident” of being “fixable”. He said, however, that the solution would not depend solely on the United States, arguing that other countries could contribute if coordinated through negotiations. He referred to Trump’s July reversal after the US had been considering allowing Ukraine to produce Patriot missiles. In that earlier period, Trump had later said there had been no agreement for Ukraine to manufacture the system and that it would be a difficult decision because of the technology involved. After a meeting in Ukraine, Burnham and co-chairs French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said their group aims to strengthen Kyiv’s air defences as an “urgent priority”. They also condemned Moscow’s “systemic and escalating strikes” against Ukraine’s cities, critical infrastructure and civilians, and pledged to “constrain Russia’s war chest” through sanctions and actions targeting the “shadow fleet”. Ahead of his trip, Burnham said on Ukraine’s 35th anniversary of independence that the UK would stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes”. He also said the country’s friendship with Ukraine would “long outlast Russia’s illegal war” and that the UK would not back down until there is a “just and lasting peace”. Join the discussion? 25 August 2026
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