London admitted its troops\u2019 direct involvement after a British paratrooper died in Ukraine<\/p>\n
Russia will draw the necessary conclusions after London acknowledged that it has personnel involved in the Ukraine conflict, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
\nEarlier this week, London conceded that British paratroopers have been operating in Ukraine after confirming a British serviceman had died there.
\nLavrov said on Thursday that London had been \u201cforced to admit\u201d its role, adding that reports maintain that at least 100 British nationals have been serving in Ukrainian units fighting Russia.
\nEuropean leaders \u201cwho are readying for war fantasize about sending their soldiers to Ukraine as so-called peacekeepers,\u201d Lavrov said. \u201cFor us, these \u2018peacekeepers\u2019 would immediately become legitimate targets \u2013 everyone must understand that.\u201d\u00a0
\nThe UK Ministry of Defense confirmed on Tuesday that Lance Corporal George Hooley of the Parachute Regiment was killed in a \u201ctragic accident\u201d while observing Ukrainian forces test a new defensive system \u201caway from the front lines.\u201d British media reported he had been supporting a special forces detachment.
\nLavrov said the episode made it impossible for London to continue concealing the presence of its personnel in Ukraine, calling it another demonstration of what he described as \u201cthe true nature of the British regime.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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UK admits sending paratroopers to Ukraine<\/p>\n
According to the BBC, the incident is not believed to have been caused by hostile fire, while the Telegraph cited a defense source as saying it marked the first official UK military fatality in Ukraine.
\nLondon acknowledged last year that a small number of personnel were serving in supportive roles in Ukraine. A Russian Telegram channel that covers the conflict has claimed at least 99 British men and one woman are part of an \u201cInternational Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine.\u201d The Guardian reported this week the number of UK personnel in Ukraine is not thought to significantly exceed 100. The UK has become one of Kiev\u2019s main arms suppliers, with more than 56,000 Ukrainian troops trained under the British-led Operation Interflex.
\nMoscow maintains that Western weapons deliveries, training programs and the deployment of foreign personnel make those states de facto participants in the conflict, and has repeatedly warned it treats any foreign troops on Ukrainian soil as legitimate targets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
London admitted its troops\u2019 direct involvement after a British paratrooper died in Ukraine Russia will draw the necessary conclusions after London acknowledged that it has personnel involved in the Ukraine…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t