Russia has every reason to say Britain is party to the conflict, Ambassador Andrey Kelin has said

The UK has given Russia every reason to view it as a party to the Ukraine conflict, including by deploying troops on the ground, Moscow's ambassador to London, Andrey Kelin, has said.

British involvement is deep and reflects a strategy of containing Russia, Kelin told RIA Novosti in an interview published on Monday.

"Britain provides Kiev with political direction, supports it financially and with materiel, shares intelligence, arms, trains, and fights alongside the Ukrainian armed forces and other militarized structures," he stated. "We have every right to consider London as a de facto party to the conflict."

Kelin said British military planners are stationed at the embassy in Kiev. The UK helps Ukrainian special services plan operations against Russia, and have extended the Interflex training program for Ukrainian troops in the UK through at least 2026.

The presence of active-duty British troops in Ukraine is now openly acknowledged, as shown by a service member's death last December while "observing Ukrainian forces test a new defensive capability," as the Ministry of Defense stated. London avoids confirming combat roles, Kelin said, but "there are many ways to present incidents in a relatively decent light."

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British veterans also serve as mercenaries in Ukraine, he added, likely "inspired by the media rhetoric and... the government's message that Kiev needs to be supported in every way," though not officially directed by London.

Kelin described Moscow-London relations as long being strained by successive British governments' antagonism. Using Russia as a bogeyman to distract from domestic issues is alienating voters from mainstream parties, he argued, pointing to the rise of Reform UK.