London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

UK to accuse Russia of working to install pro-Moscow leader in Ukraine – leak

UK to accuse Russia of working to install pro-Moscow leader in Ukraine – leak

Numerous former Ukrainian politicians have been cooperating with Russian intelligence services, according to London
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.

A native of Kharkov, Murayev was a member of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, between 2012 and 2019. However, his Opposition Bloc party failed to pass the 5% threshold in the latest parliamentary election, having only managed to win six single-seat constituencies.

The Foreign Office insists that Russian intelligence agencies have maintained links with “numerous” former Ukrainian politicians, including some top officials from the government of ex-president Viktor Yanukovich, who was deposed as a result of the violent Western-backed Maidan street protests in 2014.

Nikolai Azarov, who served as prime minister between 2010 and 2014, two former deputy PMs, and ex-deputy head of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council (RNBO) were also mentioned in the email.

“Some of these have contact with Russian intelligence officers currently involved in the planning for an attack on Ukraine,” it claimed.

However, the Foreign Office didn’t reveal the source of its data or expand on what exactly it believes Moscow has been doing to achieve regime change in Ukraine.

The letter also cited Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who claimed that “information being released today shines a light on the extent of Russian activity designed to subvert Ukraine, and is an insight into Kremlin thinking.”

Truss warned that any Russian incursion into its neighbor would be “a massive strategic mistake with severe costs” for the Kremlin. She also reiterated that Britain backs the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and reminded the recipients that it was “an independent, sovereign country.”

Russia has repeatedly denied accusations that it’s planning an invasion of Ukraine, which have been made by the US and its allies since November last year, describing the claims as groundless attempts to instill “hysteria.”

According to Moscow, it’s the West that has been stirring tensions in Ukraine by supplying weapons to Kiev – which is embroiled in a "frozen" conflict with self-proclaimed republics in the southeastern Donbass region – and intensifying the NATO buildup in Eastern Europe. The Ukrainian government asserts that the Donbass militias are under Moscow's direct control, a charge the Kremlin rejects.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×