Putin wants to install a Kremlin henchman in Kiev who will lead Ukraine in the future. That’s according to a British Foreign Office statement accusing Russia of plotting to install a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine.
︎ The statement said: “We have information that suggests that the Russian government is trying to install a pro-Russian leader in Kiev.” The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected this as “disinformation”.
“We will not tolerate the Kremlin’s plot to install a pro-Russian leadership in Ukraine,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted.
The Kremlin knew that a military invasion would be a major strategic mistake and that the UK and its partners would exact a heavy price on Russia.
The British Foreign Office also said it had evidence that several former Ukrainian politicians had links to Russian intelligence. “Some of them are in contact with Russian intelligence officials who are currently involved in planning an attack on Ukraine,” the ministry said.
Former MP of possible pro-Russian leaders
He is considered a possible pro-Russian leader: the former deputy Yevgeny Muraev (45), who is considered to be particularly pro-Russian and is the owner of the Ukrainian pro-Russia television channel “Nash”. He is one of the ten most popular politicians in Ukraine.
Yevgeny MurayevPhoto: VLADISLAV MUSIENKO/REUTERS
Murayev denies the allegations, telling the Observer newspaper that the British Foreign Office appears confused.
▶ On his Facebook page he calls for a new political leadership in Ukraine: “Ukraine needs new politicians whose policies are based on the principles of the national interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people”.
Britain was also able to identify four other Ukrainian politicians with contacts in the Kremlin’s secret services: Mykola Azarov, Sergei Arbuzov, Andrei Kluyev and Volodymyr Sivkovich.
▶ Azarov was prime minister under pro-Russian ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, both of whom fled to Russia in 2014.
▶ Arbuzov and Kluyev were deputy heads of government under Yanukovych.
▶ A few days ago, the United States imposed sanctions on Sivkovich, a former member of the Ukrainian National Council for Security and Defense, on suspicion of cooperation with Russian secret services.
Direct warning to the Kremlin
Britain is sending a direct warning to the Kremlin: “There will be very serious consequences if Russia takes this step,” Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told Sky News on Sunday.
In Ukraine, the British statement is taken very seriously: “One should take this information as seriously as possible,” said Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, the adviser has doubts about Murayev as the planned leader. He was a “too ridiculous figure”.
BUT: Russia has previously supported insignificant personalities in leadership positions, as the adviser further explains.
Britain is among the few western countries supplying arms to Ukraine due to the Russian threat. Germany continues to refuse arms deliveries.
▶ The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba therefore accused the Scholz government of “encouraging” the Russian head of state Vladimir Putin in his actions. In addition, Germany is undermining the unity of the West in the conflict.
There was also a clear statement from the White House: “This type of conspiracy” was “deeply disturbing”. The Ukrainian people have “the sovereign right to determine their own future,” declared Emily Horne (National Security Council). The US stands “on the side of the democratically elected partners in Ukraine”.
︎ Russia has massed more than 100,000 soldiers and tanks, military vehicles, artillery and missiles on the Ukrainian border. MORE and MORE troops are moving towards Ukraine! A major attack is feared.