Former Ukrainian MP Evgeniy Muraev, named by the UK Foreign Office as a potential “pro-Russian leader” who might be installed in Kiev by Moscow, has poured scorn on the claim, saying it was “a question for Mr. Bean.”
On Saturday evening, the Foreign Office issued a statement claiming Britain had exposed a plan by the Kremlin to replace Western-backed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, naming Murayev as the “potential candidate” poised to be installed in Kiev. No evidence was given to support the allegations.
“Since 2018, I have been under Russian sanctions due to a conflict with Medvedchuk [chairman of the Opposition Platform – For Life party]. My family’s assets have been seized there. How do the British intelligence services and the Foreign Office manage to connect it with the fact that Russia allegedly wants to appoint me the head of the ‘occupation government’? This is a question for Mr. Bean,” Murayev told the Kiev news outlet Strana, referring to the foolish protagonist of a popular British comedy series.