London spreads Ukraine propaganda via Russian VK
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The United Kingdom heads towards Russian sources to spread its views on the Ukraine crisis after they sanctioned and banned Russia's own sources on their own soil.
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The Russian V Kontakte social media platform
The British authorities have been paying advertising firms to spread London's view on the situation in Ukraine on V Kontakte (VK), a Russian social media platform, according to The Sunday Telegraph.
A new "counter-disinformation unit", the Government Information Cell (GCI), which was set up at the direction of UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss ahead of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, is currently working on analyzing online and broadcast material to "identity disinformation and tackle it," the British newspaper added.
The unit's staff is comprised of members from the British Foreign Office and the Defense Ministry, the Home Office, the Cabinet Office, and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport.
The Sunday Telegraph added that the unit had been commissioning advertising agencies to spread its messages and views to the Russian population via sites such as VK.
The British authorities aim to spread London's stance on "certain issues" among Russian nationals who would have never specifically asked nor searched for the opinions and views of the United Kingdom, the newspaper added.
Read more: Anti-Russian propaganda bombards internet users
Russia had launched a special military operation for several reasons, including NATO's eastward expansion. Other reasons were the Ukrainian shelling of Donbass and the killing of the people of the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic, in addition to Moscow wanting to "denazify" and demilitarize Ukraine.
Following Russia's operation, the US and its allies responded by rolling out comprehensive sanctions, including restrictions on the Russian central bank, export control measures, SWIFT cutoff for select banks, and closure of airspace to all Russian flights. Many of their companies have suspended their Russian operations.
The economic sanctions on Russia have had their fair share of repercussions on the West, especially the United States, with US oil reaching all-time high prices after President Joe Biden announced that his country was banning the import of Russian oil, liquified natural gas, and coal.
The sanctions also saw the West closing airspace and implementing restrictive measures on Russian officials, entities, media outlets, such as RT and Sputnik, and financial institutions.
