UK funding influence campaigns to split up nation: Russian FM
2 Min Read
The FM spoksperson said that "The Brits have been spending money to destabilize the domestic political situation in the country [Russia]."
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Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova (Source: Russian Foreign Ministry Press Office/TASS)
According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, the UK Foreign Office wants to invest $17.3 million into influence activities in Russia through 2023 to create discontent and change Russian policies.
Zakharova shared a link to the Russian investigative journalism website Underside on social media, which has been posting project concept files reportedly leaked from the British embassy in Moscow.
Zakharova wrote on her Telegram Channel, "The Underside archives hold dozens of documents describing projects, listing surnames, organizations and their black bookkeeping." She revealed that "The budget is a mind-boggling 1.3 billion rubles [$17.3 million] set aside for 2020-2023 to finance influence programs for public organizations (that can be used to influence state bodies) and spur the transformation of Russia's course in a way that benefits the UK."
Project P2.031, she said, intends to increase the capacity and impact of what the Foreign Office refers to as "assembly observers in Russia." The rate of protests in Russia has been increasing, according to the article, especially outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
#Opinion by Maria Zakharova
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) January 2, 2022
💬 @FCDOGovUK has one way out: to state publicly that this is fake (#HighlyLikely, ofc).
Or to admit their plans to interfere in Russia’s domestic affairs, confess, switch a tank for a yellow submarine & lie low in Bruges.
👉https://t.co/MoazvxqRUi pic.twitter.com/5qgO6McQVa
The FM spokesperson continued, "The Brits have been spending money to destabilize the domestic political situation in the country," wondering "How else can you explain the existence of grant plan P2.031 that aims to finance greater involvement in assemblies and political marches and that mentions polarization and tension in society."
What the Foreign Office was up to under Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss, according to the spokesperson, astounded her. She advised that the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs should publicly "confess" its ambitions to meddle in Russia's internal affairs or pretend that the batch of stolen documents was a hoax.
