Escalation of Hostilities 'in UK Interests' as London Sends Drones to Ukraine

Britain had earlier confirmed that hundreds of air defense missiles and further unmanned aerial systems, including hundreds of new long-range attack drones with a range of over 200 km would be delivered over the coming months to the Kiev regime.

London chose this particular moment to announce the supply of drones to Ukraine because forces of the Kiev regime are being defeated, even though the much-hyped offensive has not yet begun, military historian Yuri Knutov told Sputnik. Escalation of hostilities is in the interests of the United Kingdom, he emphasized.

The UK Ministry of Defense published a video on Twitter on June 14 showcasing the latest models of drones for transfer to Ukraine. The published footage shows medium-sized drones with anti-submarine munitions, along with a reconnaissance drone that can take off both from the ground and from a warship.

Screenshot of Twitter post by UK Ministry of Defense showing footage of drones to be supplied to Ukraine.

© Photo : Twitter

"Ukrainian troops are not coping with their task at this stage. And that goal was to deliver a lightning strike, to break through in the direction of Melitopol in a matter of 72 or 96 hours, reach the Sea of ​​Azov, cut off the land supply routes to Crimea. They failed to achieve this… The maximum that the Kiev regime manages to do is fight for advance strongholds,” Yuri Knutov said.

From the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, the UK has been at the forefront of the anti-Russia campaign, eager to match Washington and its NATO allies in pumping Kiev with military assistance. However, currently the United States is shifting more attention to China, and the "threat" ostensibly ematating from it, underscored the publicist and director of the Air Defense Forces Museum.

Accordingly, Washington appears to have "entrusted" the function of propping up authorities in Kiev fighting the West's proxy war against Russia primarily to the United Kingdom and, in part, to Germany, Knutov clarified.

"If Germany becomes the number one supplier of weapons after the US, then the UK is expected to exercise overall political and military leadership. Military advisers, generals are already there, on the territory of Ukraine, coordinating and even directing military operations," said the historian, adding that there are already casualties among high-ranking British military officers.

In May, the UK government announced in a press release that the country would provide Ukraine with air defense missiles and unmanned aerial systems.

"Today the Prime Minister will confirm the further UK provision of hundreds of air defense missiles and further unmanned aerial systems including hundreds of new long-range attack drones with a range of over 200 km. These will all be delivered over the coming months as Ukraine prepares to intensify its resistance to the ongoing Russian invasion," the British government said on May 15.

The government also said that the UK would start training Ukrainian pilots this summer.

The supplies of British drones are needed for the obvious purpose of further notching up hostilities, Yuri Knutov believes.

"As I said earlier, the supply of Challenger tanks was a signal to start supply of Leopard tanks… The supply of cruise missiles [to Ukraine] prompted Germany to consider delivery of such cruise missiles as Tokmak, with Paris reportedly mulling supplying SCALP-EG cruise missiles. The next stage, I believe, will be the UK being one of the initiators of the delivery of aircraft [to Kiev]."

Russia is fully equipped to counter any such "secret drones" that the UK will deliver to Kiev, Knutov stated.

If these are aircraft-type drones, as a rule, the Pantsir, Tor-M2, Buk missile system complexes are effective against them. In the case of large drones, like the Bayraktar TB2, electronic warfare systems can be used, he explained.

Russia is currently working on developing further advanced electronic warfare systems, to ensure they are modernized swiftly and efficiently, Yuri Knutov said.