The Kremlin has accused Sir Keir Starmer of plotting a false flag operation in Ukraine in a bid to undermine “Russia’s successes” on the battlefield.

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) made the outlandish claim on Monday, alleging that the British Government is “furious” that efforts to turn Russia into a “pariah state are failing”.

The SVR announced a series of details surrounding the alleged plot in a statement titled “The Englishwoman is messing up again”.

The statement declares: “Starmer’s Cabinet and its intelligence agencies are preparing to respond to Russia’s successes in the Ukrainian theatre of military operations with yet another vile provocation.”

According to Vladimir Putin’s foreign intelligence agency, Britain has recruited “a group of traitorous Russians fighting on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to carry out an attack on a Ukrainian Navy ship or a foreign civilian vessel in a European port”.

The SVR alleged that based on “information received”, members of the Russian dissident group have “already arrived in the UK for sabotage training”.

The bizarre statement also outlines the supposed British plan for after the operation is carried out, suggesting that “after the terrorists are ‘discovered,’ they plan to claim they were acting on Moscow’s orders”.

It continued: “London is counting on the fact that the Russophobic European political elite will happily swallow the fake news about ‘malicious Kremlin agents’ to justify the need to further increase military aid to Ukraine and the militarisation of ‘united Europe’ to combat ‘Russian aggression’.”

The SVR also said the alleged plot would also involve the group being armed with “Chinese-made underwater equipment” to be used as proof of “China’s support for Russia’s so-called armed aggression against Ukraine”.

The statement adds: “It’s surprising that in Britain, once – and rightly – called ‘Perfidious Albion’, they believe such a crude staging can deceive so many experienced politicians.

“Apparently, London’s rapid slide to the margins of world history has also affected the strategic thinking of the British intelligence services and those in power.

“The toolkit remains the same – pitting the world’s largest players against each other. But in today’s geopolitical climate, it no longer works.”

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It is not the first time the Kremlin has spouted accusations that Britain is attempting to sabotage Vladimir Putin’s regime in a bid to undermine Russia on the world stage.

In August, the SVR alleged that Britain was planning “mass raids” on Russian oil tankers in a bid to clamp down on its oil exports.

The Russian foreign intelligence reports claimed that the attacks would be framed as accidents and cause ecological chaos – leaving Nato’s “hands untied” and allowing the alliance to justify further actions against Russia.

Kremlin bosses wrote: “This will untie the West’s hands in choosing methods of counteraction.”

On Wednesday, a leading US military think-tank said that Russia was ramping up its propaganda drive and psychological operations against the West to move into “Phase 0” of its plans for a large-scale conflict.

According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Moscow was seemingly carrying out “concerted preparations” in a “condition-setting phase” which intends to pave the way for a future war with Nato.

The think tank also said that Russia had been increasing its hybrid activity in recent weeks, citing the recent drone incursions in European airspace.

Analysts from the ISW said: “This pattern of organised activity suggests that Russia has entered the first phase of preparations – ‘Phase 0’ – to move to a higher level of war than the one Russia is currently engaged in, such as a future Nato-Russia war.”

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