Russia warns drone plans for Ukraine are pulling Europe deeper into war

MOSCOW: Russia’s defence ministry warned on Wednesday that European plans to step up drone supplies to Ukraine are dragging those countries deeper into a war with Russia.

The ministry said it believes governments in a number of EU countries have decided to increase the production and supply of drones to Ukraine, a move Moscow views as a step that is escalating the conflict.

It published a list of factories and enterprises in several European countries it alleges manufacture drones or drone components, and gave their addresses, including sites in Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, Israel and Poland, among others.

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“The European public should not only have a clear understanding of the true causes of the threats to their security, but also be aware of the addresses and locations of Ukrainian and joint enterprises producing UAVs and components for Ukraine within their own countries,” it said.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, said in a subsequent post on X that the list published by the military amounted to a list of potential targets for Russia’s armed forces.

“When strikes become a reality depends on what comes next. Sleep well, European partners!” he said.

Russian officials, including Medvedev, have repeatedly made public statements that have been perceived as threats to European countries over their support for Ukraine. However, these have generally taken the form of warnings and veiled hints rather than outright announcements of imminent strikes.