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On Saturday, the British government accused Russia of a plot to infiltrate the Ukrainian government with a pro-Moscow leader.
The UK asserted that the former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevheniy Murayev is being considered as a potential candidate. Mr. Murayev is head of the pro-Russian party, Nashi, which currently has no seats in the Ukrainian parliament. Mr. Murayev rejects the idea that the Nashi party is pro-Russia: “The time of pro-Western and pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine is gone forever,” said Mr. Murayev in a Facebook post.
“Everything that does not support the pro-Western path of development of Ukraine is automatically pro-Russian,” Mr. Murayev told The Associated Press. Mr. Murayev also said that he supports Ukraine maintaining a neutral status and that “striving for NATO is tantamount to continuing the war.”
The British Foreign Office also named several Ukrainian politicians said to have links with Russian intelligence. “Some of these have contact with Russian intelligence officers currently involved in the planning for an attack on Ukraine,” the Foreign Office said, according to the AP.
The UK made the accusation based on an intelligence assessment, but did not provide evidence of the claim. It is unclear what means might be used to install a government in Kyiv.
On Sunday, the Russian Foreign Ministry rejected this claim.
“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. We call on the British Foreign Office to stop provocative activities, stop spreading nonsense,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the Telegram messaging app, reported the AP.
“What Russia wants is to have some autonomy in the East that would give Russia a veto over Ukraine’s foreign policy, and they’re looking for a guarantee that Ukraine will not join NATO,” Andrea Kendall-Taylor, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a former senior intelligence officer, told NPR.
“The Russians have a plan and we clearly think it’s worth people knowing about it. Calling it out takes away the element of surprise and also reduces the chances of Russia succeeding if they actually attempt it. When the Russians attempt this and say, ‘This is an independent Ukrainian political movement,’ we can say, ‘No, that’s not true, this is the work of your intelligence apparatus which we’ve been warning about,’” a Western official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters told the Washington Post.
“This is very much a part of the Russian toolkit. It runs the gamut from a large, conventional incursion or invasion of Ukraine to these kinds of destabilizing activities in an attempt to topple the government, and it’s important that people be on notice about that possibility … We’ve given Russia two paths. There’s a path of diplomacy and dialogue, one that I engaged in just last week with Foreign Minister Lavrov in Geneva. But there’s also a path of its renewed aggression and massive consequences that we have been building now for many weeks, it’s not just us.” Secretary of State Anthony Bliken said on CNN’s State of The Union Sunday.
“This kind of plotting is deeply concerning. The Ukrainian people have the sovereign right to determine their own future, and we stand with our democratically-elected partners in Ukraine,” said White House National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne in a statement.
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
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