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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor

Russia’s FSB agency tasked with engineering coups in Ukrainian cities, UK believes

Ukraine has warned that it is virtually encircled, with Russian troops massed on its northern, eastern and southern borders.
Ukraine has warned that it is virtually encircled, with Russian troops massed on its northern, eastern and southern borders. Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Britain believes that Russia’s powerful FSB spy agency has been given the task of trying to engineer coups in Ukraine’s major cities in the immediate aftermath of any invasion launched by the Kremlin.

The assessment is that an attack would see Russia strike first against military targets, then encircle the capital, Kyiv, and possibly other major cities, with FSB saboteurs then expected to try to install pro-Russian leaderships within.

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