Russian threats will not stop the UK supporting Ukraine, says senior minister

Threats from Russia will not make the UK change its level of support for Ukraine, the most senior minister in the Cabinet Officer has told Nato.

Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the UK would not give in to "voices of weakness" in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin's warnings that the use of Western-supplied weapons inside Russia was grounds to lower the threshold for using nuclear weapons.

Mr McFadden, who was speaking at a Nato Cyber Defence Conference, pointed out how Russia had stepped up its cyber-attacks against its enemies over the past year.

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He said: "We will not join those voices of weakness who want to give Putin a veto over our help for Ukraine.

"And given the scale of Russia's hostility, my message to members today is clear.

"While no one should underestimate the Russian aggressive and reckless cyber threat to Nato, we will not be intimidated by it, and we will never allow it to dictate our decisions or policies."

Threats from Russia have intensified after the US approved the use of long-range Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms) inside Russsia, and a UK Storm Shadow missile was reportedly used in western Kursk.

Mr McFadden said Ukraine was becoming a global conflict, and insisted the UK would not be deterred from supporting Kyiv in its fight against Russia's invasion.

A significant escalation occurred when Mr Putin claimed he was entitled to target the military facilities of countries that had supplied weapons to Kyiv.

These would include the UK, the US and other European countries.

Mr McFadden also outlined how Russia could launch a cyber-attack that could "turn off the lights for millions of people" and accused Moscow of targeting British media, telecoms and energy infrastructure.

He added: "Aided by allies including the UK, Ukraine has had to defend itself from crippling Russian cyber-attacks on its electricity grid, its airports and other critical national infrastructure.

"Russia has targeted its mobile networks – cutting off communications for millions at a time – and on occasion disabled the air raid warning system in Kyiv."