Russia has issued a brazen “final warning” to four NATO countries over Ukrainian drone attacks – sparking fears of World War Three.
The Kremlin accused NATO states of allowing Ukrainian drones to fly over their territory to attack key oil port targets near St. Petersburg.
Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Vladimir Putin’s Security Council, said: “Recently, there have been frequent cases of attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russia through Finland and the Baltic states.
“As a result, civilians are inconvenienced and civilian infrastructure is significantly damaged.”
Shoigu said either Western air defenses were “highly ineffective, or the states in question are deliberately providing their airspace, that is, acting as direct accomplices in aggression against Russia”.
Adding: “In the latter case, in accordance with international law, Article 51 of the United Nations Charter on the inherent right of states to self-defence in the event of armed attack applies.”
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Shoigu’s dire warning suggests Moscow could launch military attacks against Finland, Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania.
All four states that fall under NATO’s Article 5 collective defense umbrella have refused to allow Ukraine to use their airspace.
But Russia will not back down from its “fake” accusation, which Moscow sources say was coordinated with Putin.
Another close Putin ally, Nikolai Patrushev – the former head of the FSB security service – accused NATO states of crippling the oil ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk and said they were “complicit in these crimes”.
Hard-line MP Andrei Kolesnik said Shoigu was issuing a “final” warning to Putin with authority.
The Baltic states should not make the “mistake” of acting against Russia with “impunity,” he said.
It comes as Russia fired more than 700 drones and missiles at Ukraine in a brutal overnight attack earlier this week, killing at least 18 people.
A 12-year-old boy was among the dead, in what has been described as the deadliest attack in recent months.
Now there is growing fear that Russia is paving the way for military action against the West.
Lieutenant General Viktor Sobolev, head of Russia’s parliamentary defense committee, warned: “If drones fly over our territory from their airspace, they may receive the same attack from our side in response.
“We will shoot down these drones over the territory of these countries, and where they fall is another matter.”
Meanwhile, Sweden’s defense chief Michael Clasen has warned that Russia is planning to seize an island from a Western state in the Baltic Sea to test NATO.
Larger islands that could be at risk include Sweden’s Gotland, Denmark’s Bornholm or Estonia’s Hiiumaa and Saaremaa.
A military attack on a NATO state or invasion of a Baltic island could trigger the alliance’s mutual defense agreement – leading to a global conflict.
The fiery comments follow a separate warning from Moscow that European support for Ukraine’s drone capabilities could bring “unintended consequences.”
Putin’s Defense Ministry directly threatened to attack four targets in the UK, as well as dozens of potential targets in several European countries, all of which are allies of Ukraine.
Russia alleges that each location is responsible for the production of military equipment for the Ukrainian armed forces.
These alleged war supply hotspots are “increasingly drawing these countries into war with Russia”, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said.
