An embargoed UK Foreign Office release to media outlets, which has been seen by RT, claims that Britain has exposed a plan by Moscow to install a pro-Russian leader in Kiev as tensions continue to mount over an alleged threat of “invasion” by Moscow.
“We have information that indicates the Russian government is looking to install a pro-Russian leader in [Kiev] as it considers whether to invade and occupy Ukraine,” reads the correspondence, which was sent to media representatives on the Foreign Office’s mailing list on Saturday. No evidence was included to back up the assertions.
Obviously timed to top the Sunday newspaper agenda, recipients were ordered not to carry the details until after 10.30pm London time the night before.
It even named the man who the Kremlin supposedly considers to be “a potential candidate” to replace Ukraine’s current Western-backed president, Volodymyr Zelensky. According to the Foreign Office, 45-year-old former Ukrainian MP Evgeniy Murayev is the chosen alternative.