Russia will face severe economic sanctions if it installs a puppet regime in Ukraine, British Deputy Prime Minister Dominique Raab warned today, a day after London accused Moscow of considering installing a pro-Russian leader in Kiev.
“There will be severe sanctions if Russia makes this move to try to invade and install a puppet regime in Ukraine,” Raab, a spokesman for Sky News, said.
On Saturday, Britain accused Russia of “seeking to establish a pro-Russian leader in Kiev” and planned to “occupy” Ukraine.
“We have information that Russian spy agencies have links with several former Ukrainian politicians,” the British Foreign Office said in a press release. “According to our information, the Russian government is seeking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kiev, while it plans to invade and occupy Ukraine,” the text continued.
“We will not tolerate the Kremlin conspiring to establish a pro-Russian leadership in Ukraine,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Tras said on Twitter.
According to the Foreign Office, “former Ukrainian MP Yevgeny Murayev is considered a potential candidate”, but he is not the only one: “Russian spy services” maintain “links with several former Ukrainian politicians”.
The British Foreign Secretary referred to Sergei Arbuzov (Prime Minister from 2012 to 2014, then caretaker Prime Minister), Andrei Klugev (head of the government of former President Viktor Yanukovych), Volodymyr Sivkovryk (former Deputy Prime Minister) , as well as Mykola Azarov (Prime Minister from 2010 to 2014).
“Some of them are in contact with Russian intelligence agents who are currently involved in planning an attack on Ukraine,” the Foreign Office added.
Murayev, 45, is a pro-Russian politician who opposes Ukraine’s accession to the West. According to a poll conducted by the Razumkov Center in December 2021, it is in seventh place among the candidates for the 2024 presidential elections in Ukraine, collecting 6.3%.
“You made my night. The Foreign Office seems to be confused,” Muradoff told Britain’s Observer newspaper.
“It does not make much sense. I have been barred from entering Russia and extra money from my father’s business there has been confiscated,” he added.
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