As worries of a Russian invasion of Ukraine rise, Britain claimed on Saturday that it has intelligence that Moscow is “trying to install a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv.”
Tensions have risen in recent weeks as tens of thousands of Russian troops, along with an arsenal of tanks, battle vehicles, artillery, and missiles, have massed on Ukraine’s border.
Former Ukrainian MPs had maintained contacts with Russian intelligence services, according to material reviewed by London, and former MP Yevgen Murayev was being considered as a potential leader.
The Foreign Office claimed in a statement that some of individuals in contact with Russian intelligence personnel were “actively involved in the planning for an attack on Ukraine,” however it did not go into detail about the evidence. The purported plot was described as “very disturbing” by a US official.
The charges were denied by Moscow as “disinformation,” and London was ordered to “stop peddling nonsense.”
“Disinformation circulated by @FCDOGovUK is yet another indication that it is the @NATO Members led by the Anglo-Saxon nations who are escalating tensions around #Ukraine,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a tweet.
The claims come after a week of intense international diplomacy that ended with Washington and Moscow’s senior diplomats, Antony Blinken and Sergei Lavrov, pledging to keep trying to reduce tensions.
When his party failed to achieve 5% of the vote in the 2019 elections, Murayev, the man nominated by London, lost his place in the Ukrainian parliament.
He is thought to be the owner of Ukraine’s “Nash” television station, which regulators have been trying to shut down since last year, accusing it of broadcasting pro-Russian propaganda.
