United Kingdom accuses Russia of scheming to install pro-Kremlin government in Ukraine

On Saturday, the UK accused the Kremlin of seeking to install a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine, and said Russian intelligence officers had been in contact with a number of former Ukrainian politicians as part of plans for an invasion.

The U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office gave minimal information regarding the intelligence unveiled Saturday other than to say that the Russian government was considering trying to make a Russia-leaning former member of Ukraine’s parliament, Yevhen Murayev, the country’s new leader.

“The information being released today shines a light on the extent of Russian activity designed to subvert Ukraine, and is an insight into Kremlin thinking,” U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement, calling on Russia to de-escalate and pursue a path of diplomacy. 

“As the U.K. and our partners have said repeatedly, any Russian military incursion into Ukraine would be a massive strategic mistake with severe costs,” Truss said.

Authorities in the UK also said they had information showing how Russia’s intelligence services maintain links with numerous former Ukrainian politicians. 

“We call on the British Foreign Office to stop its provocative activities and focus on studying the history of the Tatar-Mongol yoke,” the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

In comments to the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph, Murayev, the owner of a pro-Russian television channel in Ukraine, said he found the accusations somewhat amusing.

“I have a hard time digesting stupidity and nonsense: Maybe someone wants to shut down yet another independent TV channel,” he said in a series of text messages, according to the Telegraph.

“As someone who has been under Russian sanctions for four years, barred from Russia as a national security threat and whose father got his assets frozen in Russia, I find it hard to comment on the Foreign Office’s statement,” he added.