Andy Burnham travelled to Kyiv to hand Ukrainian officials long-range missile blueprints, a visit the UK framed as proof it remains committed to Ukraine as Russia warned of consequences over British military support.
The Burnham Kyiv missile blueprints handover comes as tensions between London and Moscow have sharpened. Russia’s embassy in the UK accused Britain of ‘deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis’, adding that ‘the deeper its involvement in the conflict… the higher the price it will pay’.
Burnham, speaking before he departed, pushed back directly. ‘We are not fair-weather friends, we will be there in Ukraine’s hour of need and that won’t change,’ he said last week. Asked about the Russian threat on Tuesday, he maintained the UK was ‘providing support so that Ukraine can defend itself and that’s been the British position all the way through this conflict, by previous prime ministers, it remains the case with me’.
Strikes on Russian infrastructure sharpen tensions
The visit follows Kyiv’s stepped-up long-range attacks on targets inside Russia, including oil refineries and warehouses belonging to Wildberries, the country’s largest online retailer. UK-made drones have been used in those operations, prompting Moscow’s formal warning to London.
Russia’s embassy said the strikes, and Britain’s widening involvement, amounted to deliberate escalation. Burnham’s response was to restate the UK’s consistent line: that the support provided is defensive in nature and in line with policy held by previous administrations.
The Burnham Kyiv missile blueprints delivery represents a further step in that support. Kyiv has been pressing Western allies for expanded capabilities to strike deep into Russian territory, and the blueprints are intended to advance Ukraine’s own production capacity rather than supply finished weapons directly.
Russian ambassador quietly departed before visit
The trip also coincides with a gap at the top of Russian diplomatic representation in London. Russia confirmed that its ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, had left his post in recent weeks.
According to The Guardian, Kelin departed last month after seven years in the post, with the Kremlin formally concluding his diplomatic mission on 21 July. No replacement has been put forward.
Russia’s embassy to the BBC said the departure did not reflect any intention to downgrade diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Kremlin has given no public timeline for appointing a successor.
The absence of a sitting Russian ambassador in London, at a moment when Burnham is in Kyiv handing over missile blueprints, leaves the formal diplomatic channel between the two governments at its thinnest in years. Russia has not publicly linked the two developments.
Kelin’s exit after seven years removes one of the more experienced figures in the Russia-UK relationship from the equation at a point when the two governments have little direct contact. His departure, confirmed by The Guardian as finalised on 21 July, predates the latest round of Ukrainian strikes and the British response to them.
The Kremlin’s position, as relayed by the embassy, is that no downgrade is intended. But with no named successor and Burnham in Kyiv underlining the UK’s commitment to Ukraine’s war effort, the practical state of relations offers a starker picture than the formal diplomatic language suggests.
Russia has not said when it expects to name a new ambassador to the UK government. Ukraine’s presidency has not publicly commented on the ambassador’s departure.
