Britain has accused the Kremlin of seeking to appoint a pro-Russian leader to lead Ukraine, saying Russian intelligence had contacted Ukrainian politicians as part of a plot to launch a military offensive. As for London, one of the names considered by Russia is Evgeny Murev, which was denied by Moscow. Reuters Painted a portrait of a Ukrainian politician.
Evgeny Murev, born in 1976 in the city of Kharkov, near the Russian border, was one of the few pro-Western opposition politicians to rule after the 2014 Euromadan uprisings.
Harkov began his political career as an ally of former President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia after Euromidan.
He was a Member of Parliament between 2014 and 2019. First in the opposition bloc, a party comprising remnants of Yanukovych’s pro-Moscow party regions. However, in June 2016, he withdrew from the opposition and formed his own party, Life for Life, with a similar ideology.
In 2018 he started a new party called Nashi (Al Nostru – No). Murray ran in the 2019 presidential election, but withdrew before the vote.
What is Murray’s ideology?
Murray encourages close comments on Russia’s talks on Ukraine, writes Reuters. He believes the Euromidean protests were a Western-backed conspiracy.
Last year, he referred to the war in Donbass in eastern Ukraine as a civil war between the government and rebels, against Ukraine and the West, which he sees as a conflict between Ukraine and pro-Russian forces.
Last year, Murav suggested that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky was being controlled by the West and that Ukraine, like Russia, could try to retake territories occupied by pro-Russian separatists. Kiev rejected such a plan.
“Zhelensky is being held hostage and threatened by the MI6, the CIA, and anyone else. This could force him to launch an attack on the Donbass tomorrow, which could lead to a large-scale war,” Murray said.
Russia’s intervention in the conflict “marks the death of thousands of Ukrainians on both sides of the border.”
How influential is Murray?
Evgheni Muraev, a less important figure than pro-Moscow businessman and parliamentarian Viktor Medveciuc, claims that Vladimir Putin was his daughter’s godfather and was placed under house arrest in a treason case last year.
However, Murray controls his TV channel Nash, which began broadcasting in November 2018 and is officially owned by his father, Volodymyr.
According to a December 2021 poll by the Rasumkov think tank, he will be the seventh most likely candidate in the 2024 presidential election with 6.3% support. Another poll conducted by the rating agency is in fifth place.
In 2017, in a property report filed as a Member of Parliament, Murray stated that he had $ 2 million, 1 million euros and 1 million hryvnia (Ukrainian currency) worth about $ 460,000.
How Murray comments on British allegations
Murray rejected the British Foreign Secretary’s claims that Russia was trying to impose itself on Ukraine’s future leader. Murray says the British allegations are “meaningless”.
He later wrote on his Facebook page that his country needed new leaders and called for an end to Ukraine’s pro-Western and pro-Russian divisions.
Russia also dismissed Britain’s allegations as “absurd”. The Kiev government has not yet commented.
Volodymyr Fesenko, a Ukrainian political analyst, sees Murray as a strange candidate.
“Like him, the Russian pro is not very close to the Murev Kremlin, especially compared to Medivich,” Fesenko noted.
Author: Bokton Bagurar
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