Britain imposes sanctions on Russian disinformation agencies and their managers for attempts to destabilize democracy in Ukraine
On Monday, October 28, the British government announced the imposition of sanctions against three Russian disinformation agencies and three individuals who are trying to undermine and destabilize democracy in Ukraine.
This is stated on the website of the British government, Censor.NET reports.
Thus, the UK's sanctions concern the Social Design Agency (SDA), which is funded by the Kremlin and promotes Russian propaganda in the West.
"The Social Design Agency (SDA) is funded directly by the Russian state and, together with its partner, Structura, has attempted to conduct a series of interference operations aimed at undermining democracy and weakening international support for Ukraine," the British government said in a statement.
The sanctions list also includes the Structura group of companies associated with SDA, the autonomous non-profit organization Dialog, and their leaders: Ilya Gambashidze, Nikolai Tupikin and Andrei Perla.
According to the British government, the individuals on the blacklist are involved in a Russian disinformation operation called Doppleganger, which presents clones of real websites and social media pages as reliable sources of information.
Also this year, SDA tried to incite protests in 6 European countries.
"Putin is so desperate to undermine European support for Ukraine that he is now resorting to clumsy, ineffective efforts to try to foment unrest. These sanctions send a clear message: we will not tolerate your lies and interference. Putin's desperate attempts to divide us will fail, and we will deter the Kremlin and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes," said British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
