WORLD ON THE BRINK
BRITAIN has accused Russia of plotting to install a puppet regime in Ukraine as it continues to mass troops on its neighbour’s border.
The move to place a pro-moscow leader as head of the government in Ukraine is seen by intelligence experts in both the UK and the US as further evidence that President Vladimir Putin is planning a fullscale invasion.
But one expert believes this is unlikely to happen until after February 20, which is the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
It emerged last night that the US State Department has ordered families of its embassy personnel living in Ukraine to start evacuating from tomorrow.
The department is also expected to this week tell Americans in the country to leave via commercial flights “while they’re still available”.
The news comes after diplomats in the British embassy in Kyiv, along with US counterparts, held meetings last week to discuss a range of options, from complete evacuation to moving the mission to the western city of Lviv, which is closer to the Polish border.
The Foreign Office last night took the unusual step of naming former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev, 45, as a potential Kremlin candidate to take over in Kyiv.
Western allies stepped up warnings that Russia will pay a heavy price if the estimated 100,000 troops massed on the border launch any kind of incursion into Ukraine.
In a statement, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the Russian plotting showed the lengths to which the Kremlin is prepared to go to undermine the government in Kyiv.
She said: “The information being released today shines a light on the extent of Russian activity designed to subvert Ukraine, and is an insight into Kremlin thinking.
“Russia must de-escalate, end its campaigns of aggression and disinformation, and pursue a path of diplomacy.
“As the UK and our partners have
‘A mistake with
severe costs’
said repeatedly, any Russian military incursion into Ukraine would be a massive strategic mistake with severe costs.”
Mr Murayev, a media owner, lost his seat in the Ukrainian parliament when his party failed to secure five per cent of the vote in elections in 2019.
He has reportedly spoken out in