Britain and US are ‘playing with fire’ by supplying Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets

Britain and the United States are ‘playing with fire’ by agreeing to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, Russia’s foreign minister has said.

Sergei Lavrov accused the West of ‘an unacceptable escalation’ of the war over its continued military support of Ukraine. His warning came as Russia unleashed its largest drone bombing blitz of the war against Kyiv.

The overnight attack, which carried on into yesterday morning, involved 54 weapon-carrying drones – timed to coincide with celebrations marking 1,541 years since Kyiv was founded.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of ‘an unacceptable escalation’ of the war over its continued military support of Ukraine

He added that Britain and the United States are ‘playing with fire’ by agreeing to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets (pictured)

But Ukraine said artillery gunners stationed around the Ukrainian capital shot most of the missiles from the sky, in the latest setback for Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Lavrov’s warning was echoed yesterday by Russia’s ambassador to Britain, Andrei Kelin, who warned the UK not to commit further resources to Ukraine or the conflict could escalate.

Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, he claimed: ‘Sooner or later this escalation may get a new dimension which we do not need and do not want.’

During the Kyiv bombardment, only one death – a 41-year-old man – was reported, said mayor Vitali Klitschko.