The United Kingdom on Monday announced sanctions against three Russian communication agencies, accusing them of disinformation to the detriment of Kyiv.
The UK also accused one of the agencies of inciting demonstrations against Ukraine across Europe.
The agencies targeted include the Social Design Agency (SDA), which is "directly funded by the Russian state," according to the British Foreign Office. The sanctions also target Structura National Technologies and ANO DIALOG agencies, as well as three directors of SDA and Structura.
"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," the Foreign Office charged in a statement.
"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," it added. "Their murky actions are part of a co-ordinated attempt to use deceptive information operations to undermine democracy in pursuit of their aims."
The Foreign Office accused the SDA, in particular, of ‘trying to incite demonstrations in half a dozen European countries."
These sanctions "send a clear message: we will not tolerate your lies and interference," said the head of British diplomacy, David Lammy.
"Putin's desperate attempts to divide us will fail. (...) We will stand by Ukraine for as long as is necessary," the minister is quoted as saying in the press release.
According to the UK Foreign Office, the United States, Canada, France, Germany and Australia have also denounced the underhand activities of the SDA internationally.
