Former UK defence secretary Ben Wallace has called for Britain to help shoot down Russian drones and missiles over Ukrainian airspace, arguing this would protect Nato members bordering the conflict without amounting to escalation against Moscow. The intervention follows Poland's months-long push for allies to take a more active role in air defence, a call largely ignored until a drone strike narrowly missed Boris Johnson and other former leaders near the Polish border. Nato has so far only engaged Russian threats once they cross into alliance airspace, but experts warn this approach is becoming untenable as Russia increasingly targets Poland, Romania and Moldova.

Wallace told the Daily Mail that shooting down drones over Ukraine "is in line with international law" and cannot be viewed as escalatory since the targets would remain outside Russian territory. The renewed pressure came after Johnson, UK national security adviser Jonathan Powell and European officials narrowly avoided a drone that struck a train at the Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing on the Ukrainian-Polish border. The Institute for the Study of War has also urged Nato to boost Ukraine's air defences and enable strikes on Russian launch sites. Separately, the Ministry of Defence confirmed a second British soldier had died on operations in Ukraine, following a road traffic incident, after paratrooper L/Cpl George Hooley was killed in December.