Russia says summoned UK, France envoys over Ukrainian missile strike

Russia's foreign ministry said on Friday it had summoned the British and French ambassadors over a Ukrainian attack on the city of Bryansk using French-British Storm Shadow missiles.

The ministry said it summoned the envoys "to lodge a strong protest" over the attack on Tuesday that it said "would not have been possible without the involvement of British and French specialists".

Moscow has launched near-daily drone and missile barrages on Ukraine since the start of its full-scale offensive in 2022. Ukraine retaliates with its own strikes on Russia's infrastructure.

On Tuesday, Ukraine claimed a strike with Storm Shadow missiles, developed by Britain and France, on what it said was a microelectronics factory in Bryansk that produced parts for Russian missiles launched at Ukraine.

Russia said seven people died and over 40 were wounded in what it called a "terrorist" attack.

"If London and Paris continue to be complicit in the Kyiv regime's war crimes, these European capitals will bear responsibility for the destructive consequences of the armed conflict and the escalation of tensions," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The Russian side demanded that the UK and France issue a clear public response with a strong and unequivocal condemnation," the statement added.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday called the strike on Bryansk "a completely justified response to the aggressor".

In December, Ukraine said it used Storm Shadows to attack an oil refinery in the Rostov region, a facility it said was supplying Russian armed forces.

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