The United Kingdom (UK) accused Russia of attempting to install a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine on Saturday, alleging that Russian intelligence officials had been in contact with a number of former Ukrainian leaders as part of invasion plans.
The British foreign ministry refused to give proof to back up their charges, which came at a time when Russia and the West were at odds over Russia's massing of soldiers along its Ukrainian border. Moscow has stated that it has no intention of invading.
According to the British ministry, the Russian government is examining former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevhen Murayev as a contender to lead a pro-Russian government.
On Twitter, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss declared, "We will not allow a Kremlin conspiracy to impose pro-Russian leadership in Ukraine." "The Kremlin understands that a military incursion would be a huge strategic blunder, and that the UK and our allies would punish Russia severely."
The British statement was released in the early hours of Sunday morning, Moscow and Kyiv time, and neither the Kremlin nor Murayev responded immediately.
According to a foreign ministry source, sharing intelligence information is not common procedure, and the specifics were only declassified after careful deliberation to dissuade Russian action.
The comments were denounced by the Russian Foreign Ministry as "disinformation," accusing Britain and NATO of "escalating tensions" over Ukraine.
"We ask the Foreign Office to halt these aggressive acts, stop spreading falsehoods, and finally focus its efforts on understanding the history of the Mongol-Tatar yoke," the ministry stated on its verified Facebook page.
The British charges come a day after top US and Russian officials failed to reach a big breakthrough in talks to end the Ukraine conflict, despite agreeing to continue talking. Russia has made a number of security demands of the US, including a halt to NATO's eastward expansion and a guarantee that Ukraine will never be admitted to the Western military alliance. find out more
Emily Horne, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, said in a statement: "This type of plotting is extremely alarming. We support our democratically-elected colleagues in Ukraine in exercising their sovereign right to select their own destiny."
Murayev, 45, is a pro-Russian politician opposed to Ukraine's Western integration. He was placed seventh among presidential candidates for the 2024 election in a poll done by the Razumkov's Centre think tank in December 2021, with 6.3 percent support.
"You've brightened my day. The Foreign Office of the United Kingdom appears befuddled "Murayev told the Observer newspaper in the United Kingdom. "It doesn't make sense. I'm not allowed to enter Russia. Not only that, but money from my father's company has been seized throughout the country."
Britain said it had information that Russian intelligence services were retaining relationships with "many" former Ukrainian politicians, including top officials with ties to ex-President Viktor Yanukovich, as it delivered 2,000 missiles and a team of military trainers to Ukraine this week.
Yanukovich fled to Russia in 2014 after three months of anti-government rallies, and in 2019 he was condemned in his absence to 13 years in prison on treason charges.
"Some of inpiduals have communication with Russian intelligence operatives who are now involved in the preparation of an attack on Ukraine," according to a statement released by the British Foreign Office.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Downing Street office also said the British leader was planning to ramp up pressure on Russia this week by calling for European counterparts to come together with the United States to face down Russian aggression.
Earlier, RIA news agency reported that British foreign minister Truss would visit Moscow in February to meet her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, while Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and his British counterpart Ben Wallace have also agreed to hold talks.
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