Russian ambassador blames UK in part for Ukraine’s drone attacks

Russia’s ambassador to the UK has partly blamed Britain for Ukraine’s recent drone attacks.

The British Council has meanwhile been barred from returning to Russia, as tensions between Moscow and the West continue to deepen.

Andrei Kelin, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s man in London, warned that Kyiv was escalating the conflict with its recent attacks in an interview with Sky News.

He pointed to Operation Spider’s Web, the mass covert drone attack which struck long-range bomber planes at four airbases deep within Russian territory.

Mr Kelin urged Ukraine to “not try to engulf World War III”, according to Sky News.

In a signal that he believed the attack was supported by Kyiv’s Western allies, he added it involved “provision of very high technology, so-called geospaced data, which only can be done by those who have it in possession”.

“And this is London and Washington,” he said.

Elsewhere, Russian news agency Tass reported that the British Council, an educational organisation, has been barred from re-entering Russia by the security services.

The council ceased its operations in Russia in 2018, but Moscow claims those who work for it could be spies.

Interacting with the British Council “entails administrative and criminal liability”, Tass reported.