UK imposes new sanctions on Russia over attempts to undermine and destabilise Ukraine

This is said in a press release on the UK Government website, Ukrinform reports.

“Putin is so desperate to undermine European support for Ukraine he is now resorting to clumsy, ineffective efforts to try and stoke unrest. Today’s sanctions send a clear message; we will not tolerate your lies and interference, and we are coming after you. Putin’s desperate attempts to divide us will fail. We will constrain the Kremlin, and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” said Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

In today’s package, the UK has sanctioned three Russian agencies and three senior figures who are attempting to undermine and destabilise Ukraine and its democracy.

As noted, the Social Design Agency (SDA) is tasked and funded directly by the Russian State.

Along with its partner company Structura, they have attempted to deliver a series of interference operations designed to undermine democracy and weaken international support for Ukraine.    

This year, the SDA also attempted to incite protests in half a dozen European countries. However, despite Russian pouring money into these malign organisations’ interference activities, their lies have consistently struggled online, with bots and fake sites getting limited interaction.

This has forced the SDA to consider buying social media views.  

Moreover, these firms and their leadership are responsible for a vast malign online network, also commonly known as Doppelganger, which plagues social media with fake posts, counterfeit documents and deepfake material.

These deceitful tactics are designed to mask the truth around Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and distract from the true nature of the war.

Their murky actions are part of a co-ordinated attempt to use deceptive information operations to undermine democracy in pursuit of their aims.    

It is noted that these new sanctions demonstrate that no matter how desperate the Russian interference activity has become, the UK is committed to taking action against Russian information manipulation.

As Ukrinform reported, the UK government on Thursday, October 17, imposed restrictive measures against 18 Russian oil tankers and four LNG tankers.