Czech Ambassador in London: Britain Has Openly Admitted Large-Scale Support for Ukraine, Including Strikes on Russia

For the first time, the United Kingdom has openly acknowledged that its support for Ukraine is large-scale and includes assistance with strikes on Russian territory. This was stated by Libor Bartuška, the Czech ambassador in London, commenting on the shift in rhetoric among British politicians in recent weeks.

"The British have supported Ukraine since the earliest days of the war, since February 2022, but some statements made by British politicians in recent weeks have been unusually candid. In the past they would say: we support Ukraine, don't ask about the details. Now they essentially admit, with a degree of pride, that the support is substantial and already involves strikes deep inside Russian territory," the diplomat noted.

Provocations off Britain's coast

According to the ambassador, all layers of British society sense the threat posed by Russia. In recent months, the Russian navy has carried out live-fire exercises near British shores several times — technically in international waters, but on one occasion shells came close to hitting a yacht carrying two retirees in the English Channel. The incident was widely covered by British media, television and bloggers.

Bartuška stressed that in Britain, where the economy plays a central role, there is a clear understanding that Russia has shifted onto a war footing, and reversing that transition back to a peacetime economy will take far more than a year or two. That is why London views the Russian threat as a long-term one. He added that in the UK, foreign policy traditionally stays above party politics — the alliance with the United States, the complicated relationship with the European Union, and opposition to Russia are all supported equally by Conservatives and Labour alike, regardless of who holds the office of prime minister.

The poisonings of Litvinenko and Skripal have not been forgotten

One of the reasons behind London's firm stance, the ambassador said, is the assassinations carried out by Russian intelligence services on British soil — the poisonings of Alexander Litvinenko and Sergei Skripal. Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive polonium, a substance that is far from easy to produce, which meant his body had to be buried in a lead coffin at considerable depth.

"Russian intelligence services organized these killings in a way that made it clear this was a state operation, while still leaving room for long-term denial and open mockery of the British side," Bartuška explained, recalling the account according to which the agents supposedly travelled to Salisbury just to see the cathedral. According to him, this "persistent effort" has left British intelligence and counterintelligence with a considerable amount of personal animosity toward their opponents — this is not something they treat with cool detachment.

The turning point came with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Before that, the British government had tried to draw a line between the Russian state and Russian business, of which there was no shortage in the country. Since the war began, so-called "Londongrad" has been gradually fading away: Russians remain in London, but they try to keep a low profile, and almost none of the major billionaires are left.

Czech investment and nuclear power

Relations between the two countries are complicated by the fact that Britain has not been part of the European Union since February 2020 and is formally regarded by the Czech Republic as a "third country." Nevertheless, the ambassador stressed, Britain remains the world's fifth-largest economy and a key player both in Europe and globally.

According to Bartuška, ordinary Britons know little about the Czech Republic beyond beer and Prague. Those interested in the history of the Second World War, however, are well aware of the role Czechoslovak pilots played in the Battle of Britain and of Operation Anthropoid, the assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich.

What strengthens the Czech Republic's standing in Britain most today is major investment — according to the ambassador, Czech investment in the country is the largest in the region, noticeably ahead of Polish investment. Among the investors he named Daniel Křetínský, who bought Royal Mail; Karel Komárek, who runs the National Lottery; Pavel Tykač, who owns metallurgical and energy assets; and the state-owned company ČEZ, which acquired a fifth of Rolls-Royce SMR, a maker of small modular reactors.

It is precisely this deal, the ambassador said, that matters most: nuclear power is closely tied to military nuclear know-how, and preserving that know-how is critical for Britain, which is why the government is placing heavy bets on building new reactors.

Commenting on the image of a "declining power" grappling with migration issues and the rise of the Reform UK party, Bartuška agreed that the decline of traditional parties is noticeable in the Czech Republic too, and that the migration burden on Britain is indeed considerable. Even so, the country remains the world's fifth-largest economy, and London, alongside New York, remains one of the world's financial centres. He added that Britain's sharp sense of humour has not disappeared either, despite pressure from "cancel culture": Monty Python comedian John Cleese still insists that people should have the right to joke about any subject.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz