Russia rejects UK claim of trying to replace Ukraine leader

By JIM HEINTZ and JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Foreign Ministry has rejected a British claim that Russia is seeking to replace Ukraine’s government with a pro-Moscow administration and that former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevheniy Murayev is being considered as a potential candidate.  Britain’s Foreign Office on Saturday also named several other Ukrainian politicians it said had links with Russian intelligence services. Murayev is the leader of a small party that has no seats in Ukraine’s parliament. The U.K. government made the claim based on an intelligence assessment without providing evidence to back it up. It comes amid high tensions between Moscow and the West over Russia’s designs on Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denied the U.K. accusations on Sunday.