British officials are now a "legitimate military target" for Moscow, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday, responding to remarks from the U.K.'s foreign secretary that Ukraine has the right to strike military targets inside Russian territory.
The U.K. "de facto is leading an undeclared war against Russia" by providing Ukraine with military aid, Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, tweeted, calling the nation Moscow's "eternal enemy."
On May 11, the U.K. became the first country to supply Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles. The U.K. provided the Storm Shadow missiles, which, according to Fabian Hoffmann, a missile technology expert, have the potential to strike the Kerch Strait Bridge—Russia's sole link to annexed Crimea, which Ukraine hopes to recapture in a counteroffensive.
Ukraine has said that so far, the Storm Shadow missiles have hit all of their Russian targets.
Medvedev was responding on Wednesday to remarks made by British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who said that Ukraine, as part of its self-defense, "has a right" to project force "beyond its own borders." Cleverly made the comments after drones targeted Moscow on Tuesday morning. Ukraine has denied responsibility for the attack.
Cleverly said, however, that weapons given to Kyiv by the U.K. should be used within Ukraine.
.@oleksiireznikov
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 28, 2023
🚀 Storm Shadow long-range missiles have hit 100% of the targets identified by the General Staff.
"The goofy officials of the UK, our eternal enemy, should remember that within the framework of the universally accepted international law which regulates modern warfare, including the Hague and Geneva Conventions with their additional protocols, their state can also be qualified as being at war," wrote Medvedev.
"Today, the UK acts as Ukraine's ally providing it with military aid in the form of equipment and specialists, i.e., de facto is leading an undeclared war against Russia," he added. "That being the case, any of its public officials (either military, or civil, who facilitate the war) can be considered as a legitimate military target."
In December Medvedev said that members of the NATO military alliance providing Ukraine with assistance could be "legitimate military targets."
In a statement on his Telegram channel, Medvedev questioned whether the delivery of weapons to Ukraine by NATO members could be viewed as an attack on Russia.
According to "the named rules of war," he said, the armed forces of other countries "that have officially entered the war, which are allies of the enemy country, and the objects located on their territory," are considered legitimate military targets.
Medvedev said other legitimate military targets include the military-political leadership of the enemy country and any enemy troops (legal combatants and illegal combatants) who have not been officially withdrawn from among its armed forces.
The U.S. has said it doesn't support strikes by Ukraine inside Russian territory.
"We do not support attacks inside of Russia. That's it. Period," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday.
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About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
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