The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

U.K. accuses Russia of scheming to install a pro-Kremlin government in Ukraine

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January 23, 2022 at 6:57 a.m. EST
A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea on Jan. 18. Russia has amassed troops, tanks and heavy weapons near Ukraine in what the West fears could be a prelude to an invasion. (AP)

The British government on Saturday accused Russia of organizing a plot to install a pro-Moscow government in Ukraine, as the Kremlin masses troops and materiel near the Ukrainian border in what Western officials fear is an impending military assault on the neighboring nation.

The U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office gave relatively little information about the intelligence unveiled Saturday other than to say that the Russian government was considering trying to make a Russia-leaning former member of Ukraine’s parliament, Yevhen Murayev, the country’s new leader.