Kremlin says UK preventing peace by giving missile info to Ukraine

The Kremlin said Monday that the Britain was preventing peace in Ukraine by giving Kyiv information needed to produce SCALP long-range missiles, and threatened to destroy plants manufacturing them.

The warning came as British Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged to keep backing Ukraine militarily during a visit to Kyiv.

The British government has said it would authorise defence firm MBDA to release information on UK components used in the Franco-British missile, so that Kyiv could produce them domestically.

When asked about the SCALP blueprints, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, that "Britain is methodically and regularly throwing oil on the fire and methodically and regularly plotting schemes to prevent even the slightest progress in the peace process."

"Our armed forces are carrying out work accordingly, gathering the relevant intelligence to identify the production sites of such missiles and other military equipment, and taking measures to destroy these facilities," Peskov said.

The SCALP missile is a long-range, cruise missile capable of hitting targets around 250 kilometres (around 150 miles) away.

France and Britain have supplied the weapon to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale offensive in 2022, but Kyiv has not yet produced them domestically.

Burnham visited Kyiv on Monday for Ukraine's Independence Day commemorations and vowed to maintain Britain's military backing for the government.

"Despite Russia's outrageous threats to my country, we will continue our support for Ukraine's defence," Burnham said in a speech given ahead of a meeting of Ukraine's international backers.