Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday rejected a British claim that Russia was seeking to replace Ukraine’s government with a pro-Moscow administration, and that former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevheniy Murayev was being considered as a potential candidate.
Britain’s Foreign Office on Saturday also named several other Ukrainian politicians it said had links with Russian intelligence services, along with Murayev who is the leader of a small party that has no seats in parliament.
Those politicians include Mykola Azarov, a former prime minister under Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian president ousted in a 2014 uprising, and Yanukovych’s former chief of staff, Andriy Kluyev.
Murayev’s Nashi party is regarded as sympathetic to Russia, but Murayev on Sunday pushed back, characterizing it as pro-Russia.
The U.K. government made the claim based on an intelligence assessment, without providing evidence to back it up. It comes amid high tensions between Moscow and the West over Russia’s designs on Ukraine and each side’s increasing accusations that the other is planning provocations.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the Telegram messaging app Sunday that the disinformation spread by the British Foreign Office is more evidence that it is the NATO countries, led by the Anglo-Saxons, who are escalating tensions around Ukraine.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the information “shines a light on the extent of Russian activity designed to subvert Ukraine, and is an insight into Kremlin thinking.
Britain has sent anti-tank weapons to Ukraine as part of efforts to bolster its defenses against a potential Russian attack.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
