Ukraine war: Russian security council's Dmitry Medvedev says UK officials are 'legitimate military targets'

British public officials are a “legitimate military target” because of the UK’s support for Ukraine, the deputy chair of Russia's security council has warned.

Dmitry Medvedev - who is also the former Russian president - has claimed the UK’s support for Kyiv amounts to an “undeclared war” against Russia. His comments came after Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Ukraine had the right to “project force beyond its borders” into Russia, to resist Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

Ukrainian authorities have denied launching a drone attack on Moscow on Tuesday (30 May) - with some experts speculating it might have been a false flag operation - but there has been an escalation in the fighting between the two countries in recent weeks.

Russia has been relentlessly bombarding the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, with at three major strikes over the last 48 hours - and at least 15 so far this month - which have included heavy drone strikes that damaged buildings, with one person killed by falling debris.

In response to Cleverly's comments, Medvedev said: “The goofy officials of the UK, our eternal enemy, should remember that within the framework of the universally accepted international law which regulates modern warfare, including the Hague and Geneva Conventions with their additional protocols, their state can also be qualified as being at war."

“Today, the UK acts as Ukraine’s ally, providing it with military aid in the form of equipment and specialists... de facto, is leading an undeclared war against Russia," he continued. “That being the case, any of its public officials - either military, or civil, who facilitate the war - can be considered as a legitimate military target.”

Two anti-Putin paramilitary groups made up of Russians living in Ukraine have claimed responsibility for at least one raid in Russian territory - in the city of Belgorod.

The Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion say they undertook the cross-border raid, which saw towns and villages in the region targeted in an attempt to create a demilitarised neutral zone between Ukraine and Russia.

The Kremlin has accused the two groups of being backed by the Ukrainian military, a claim disputed by Kyiv.

While the raids were unsuccessful in creating a demilitarised zone, it is believed that the attacks exposed weaknesses in Russian defences. The Kremlin said that it was able to fight back against the incursion but drone attacks and paramilitary troops on the ground did damage to infrastructure and homes.