Andrei Kelin pointed the finger at the UK as he claimed Ukraine must have received assistance in its daring drone attacks over the weekend.

19:33, Thu, Jun 5, 2025 | UPDATED: 19:34, Thu, Jun 5, 2025

Smoke and flames rise from a Russian aircraft

Smoke and flames rise from a Russian aircraft during the daring attacks by Ukraine over the weekend (Image: Telegram)

The Russian ambassador to the UK issued a warning over World War Three as he has accused Britain of playing a role in Ukraine’s audacious drone attacks over the weekend. Andrei Kelin warned Ukraine’s attack on warplanes deep inside Russia risk escalating the conflict to “World War Three”, claiming Kyiv’s actions “are bringing the conflict to a different level of escalation".

Speaking to Sky News, he said Kyiv should “not try to engulf World War Three” and appeared to partly blame the UK for the attacks which Ukraine claimed damaged more than 40 Russian aircraft across four airbases. The ambassador suggested Ukraine must have been assisted during the mission, codenamed Operation Spiderweb. He told the broadcaster: "[This] kind of attack involves, of course, 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.

Drone strikes reportedly damage Russian airbases

"I don't believe that America [is involved], that has been denied by President Trump, definitely, but it has not been denied by London.

"We perfectly know how much London is involved, how deeply British forces are involved in working together with Ukraine."

Mr Kelin described the idea of World War Three as the “very worst case scenario that we can imagine”.

Volodymyr Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks "will undoubtedly be in history books" (Image: Getty)

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Russian warplanes, including strategic bombers and command-and-control aircraft, were struck by Ukrainian first person view (FPV) drones which had been smuggled into Russia and launched remotely from wooden containers carried on trucks.

Ukrainian officials estimated the attacks caused more than £5 billion in damage, although this has been disputed by Moscow.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the daring raid, planned over 18 months, “will undoubtedly be in history books”.

US President Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin told him “very strongly” that retaliation was coming for the attacks on the airfields.

The leaders shared a phone call that lasted over an hour on Wednesday as Washington continues to push for peace in Ukraine.

"It was a good conversation but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace,” Mr Trump said.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: "We never comment on operational matters at home or abroad."