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LONDON/KIYV, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Russia will face severe economic sanctions if it installs a puppet regime in Ukraine, a senior UK minister said on Sunday after Britain accused the Kremlin of seeking to install a pro-Russian leader there.
Britain made the accusation late on Saturday, also saying Russian intelligence officers had been in contact with a number of former Ukrainian politicians as part of plans for an invasion.
The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed the comments as “disinformation”, accusing Britain and the transatlantic military alliance NATO of “escalating tensions” over Ukraine.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian adviser to the presidential office, said the allegations should be taken seriously.
“There’ll be very serious consequences if Russia takes this move to try and invade but also install a puppet regime,” British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told Sky News on Sunday.
The British accusations, first made in a statement by the foreign ministry, come at a time of high tensions between Russia and the West over Russia’s massing of troops near its border with Ukraine.
Moscow has insisted it has no plans to invade.
The foreign ministry said it had information the Russian government was considering former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevhen Murayev as a potential candidate to head a pro-Russian leadership.
Murayev, 45, has promoted views that closely align with Russian narratives on Ukraine. According to a poll by the Razumkov’s Centre think tank conducted in December 2021, he was ranked seventh among candidates for the 2024 presidential election with 6.3% support.
Murayev himself poured cold water on Britain’s claims that Russia wants to install him as Ukraine’s leader, in comments to British newspapers. In a Facebook post later on Sunday, he called for an end to dividing Ukraine into pro-Western and pro-Russian politicians.
“The time of pro-Western and pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine is gone forever,” he wrote. “Ukraine needs new politicians whose policy will be based solely on the principles of the national interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.”
