In an intervention that drew both attention and frowns, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has warned that Moscow is attempting to install a puppet regime in Kiev.

Contrary to other customs, she published information from the British foreign intelligence service MI6 at the weekend that the Russian government was considering the former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev in particular as a "possible candidate".

Truss spoke on Twitter of an "inside view of Kremlin thinking" and wrote: "This information sheds light on the extent of Russian activities to infiltrate Ukraine."

Jochen Buchsteiner

Political correspondent in London.

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Washington also suspects that the Kremlin wants to install a government in Kiev that is favorable to it. But the apparently detailed information from MI6 not only made the Russian Foreign Ministry speak of "nonsense" and "disinformation". Murayev himself was amused when asked by the British Observer. "You give me a nice evening," he said, describing the Foreign Office in London as "confused".

Murayev recalled that the Russian government had imposed a travel ban on him and confiscated his father's company assets.

"It's not very logical," he said.

Anton Shekhovtsov, director of the Vienna Center for Democratic Integrity, wrote on Twitter that Ukrainians "just laughed" at the name Murayev.

Even if the government in Moscow cannot be credited with much Ukraine expertise, it would not come up with such an “idiotic idea”.

London with no evidence to support his claim

Truss did not release any evidence. The listing of four other candidates with whom Moscow is "connected" can hardly be described as the result of sophisticated espionage activities. The four, also referred to as "the family", were senior members of the pro-Russian government in office in Kiev until 2014. Three of them have probably lived in Russia since the revolution eight years ago. The "lack of detail and the sudden diplomatic bustle" would raise suspicions that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is "exploiting an international crisis to shore up his position at home," the Guardian newspaper wrote on Sunday, and gave the floor to David Clark, who once served as Labor Foreign Secretary Robin Cook.

He spoke of a "government in distress" known for "fabricating sensational news to distract attention from its own difficulties".

Newspapers last week reported on a "red meat operation" by the government to divert attention from the party affair, which is now a serious threat to Johnson.

First it was announced that the migrant route across the English Channel would in future be controlled by the Royal Navy, then a timetable for ending the fee obligation in favor of the BBC was announced.

Some noticed that Downing Street accompanied the Foreign Secretary's initiative with a statement of her own.

After that, Boris Johnson “pushed” for a “change of gears” in the Ukraine crisis.

London wants a more robust approach to Moscow

However, it cannot be said that London discovered the subject overnight. While the government has kept a low profile in recent Western attempts to resolve the crisis diplomatically, it has long urged a more robust approach to Moscow. Last year, London agreed to build warships with Kiev and recently began delivering 2,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.

The lack of understanding about allies who - like Germany - reject arms deliveries to Ukraine is also growing louder.

Johnson has been criticizing Berlin's position on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline since November.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper on Sunday quoted a source close to the prime minister as saying: "I'm afraid some leaders are not seeing the full picture on the Ukrainian border or fully understanding the risks posed by an intimidating Russia."

Truss and Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace are said to have made their way to the continent to increase the pressure there.

Apparently Berlin is also on the itinerary.