Russia could use unfounded claims that Britain was involved in attacks on critical Russian infrastructure as a pretext for disrupting energy supplies from Norway to the UK, a military expert has warned.
On Saturday, the Kremlin's defense ministry said British navy personnel blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month, a claim that London said was false and designed to distract from Russian military failures in Ukraine.
The Russian ministry also alleged that "British specialists" from the same unit directed Ukrainian drones packed with explosives in attacks on ships in its Black Sea fleet in Crimea at the weekend.
The Kremlin described the "massive drone attack" as an act of terrorism and said it would resume its blockade of grain shipments from Ukraine as a result - tearing up a UN-brokered deal and putting people in some countries at risk of starvation.
Ukraine has not openly admitted to the strike, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the decision to withdraw from the grain deal was "rather predictable".
Watch: Former commander warns Russia could attack British gas supply over 'false claims' about Crimea drone attack
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Russia has a long history of carrying out "false flag" operations with the aim of portraying itself as a victim as a pretext for military action, and a former commander of Britain's Joint Forces Command says the UK could now be targeted in some way.
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