Ukraine to target Russian influence after UK warns of plot

More than 13,000 people have died in the fighting between Ukraine forces and the pro-Russian rebels

Ukraine vowed to counter destabilising Russian influence over the country's political and economic spheres Sunday after London accused Moscow of looking to install a Kremlin-friendly president in Kyiv.

The UK alleged this weekend it had information Moscow was "looking to install a pro-Russian leader" in Ukraine, naming several former politicians in Kyiv it alleged haboured ties with Russian intelligence.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff, said the revelations were part and parcel of Russia's approach towards Ukraine, and that Kyiv would push back.

The Kremlin had for some time followed a formula of selecting individuals in business or politics and then using those people to "promote Russia's interests", said Podolyak.

London said it had seen evidence that several former Ukrainian politicians had maintained links with Russian intelligence services, and that former MP Yevgen Murayev was being considered as a potential leader.

- 'New leadership' needed -

Murayev, the former MP allegedly touted as a possible leader by Russia, on Sunday wrote on social media that ex-Soviet Ukraine was in need of sweeping political reforms and a new head of state.

Murayev lost his seat in parliament when his party failed to win five percent of the vote in 2019 elections. He is understood to be the owner of a television channel that was closed last year on allegations it was airing pro-Russia propaganda.

Current fears of a Russian invasion stem from Moscow's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and the capture by pro-Kremlin separatists of two self-proclaimed breakaway republics in Ukraine's east.

- Blinken defends German commitment -

That appeal came on the back of a week of talks between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Washington's allies in Ukraine and then Berlin, before a meeting Friday in Geneva with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Blinken on Sunday said he had "no doubts" Germany was maintaining a united front with NATO on the Ukraine crisis, after Berlin faced pressure to toughen its stance on the Russian threat to Ukraine.

Schoenbach had said it was "nonsense" to think Russia was about to march into Ukraine and that President Vladimir Putin deserved respect.

On Sunday, Blinken told NBC television: "I can tell you that the Germans very much share our concerns and are resolute and being determined to respond -- and to respond swiftly, effectively, and in a united way.

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