Revenge is a dish served both hot and cold by the Kremlin. High on the menu for what Moscow has in store for the UK in view of the latest threats for British support of Ukraine must be targeted assassination – a chosen method of attack which has been used for millennia.
The deal just struck by Andy Burnham on his first prime ministerial visit to Kyiv will only compound the pique of team Putin that the UK is more than a cheerleader, but now a serious ally of Ukraine in its battle for survival. Ukraine will now be able to make its own versions of the effective UK-French Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missile. More significant is the data-sharing deal with Ukraine giving access to its Avengers data base and AI experience of four years of war. In itself this is a game changer. The Russian junta of Putin and his securitocracy will not like it.
The intelligence agencies, counter-terror units and the National Crime Agency must be on high alert for another bout of murders by Russian agents or their proxies, now that Kremlin propagandists have declared that the Brits are going to get their comeuppance for supplying a new generation of medium-range drones now attacking Russia.
This time the threat must be taken even more seriously. Given Moscow’s record and the alleged plots against defence executives elsewhere in Europe, another Russian assassination attempt in Britain is firmly on the cards.
