UK Sanctions Russian Public Relations Firms for ‘Trying to Destabilise’ Ukraine
Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London, UK, 2024. X/ @WisconsinProj
October 28, 2024 Hour: 11:37 am
The sanctioned agencies are the Social Design Agency, Structura, and Ano Dialog.
On Monday, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs informed that the United Kingdom sanctioned three Russian public relations agencies and three individuals for attempting to “undermine and destabilize” Ukrainian democracy.
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The sanctioned agencies include the Social Design Agency (SDA) and its affiliate Structura, which allegedly conducted operations to weaken international support for Ukraine. The third public relations agency, Ano Dialog, is believed to have incited protests in several European countries.
The individuals sanctioned are Ilya Andreevich Gambashidze, founder of SDA; Nicolai Tupikin, SDA’s CEO and owner of Structura; and Andrei Perla, project director at SDA.
The British Foreign Affairs Secretary David Lammy stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is so desperate to undermine European support for Ukraine that he is now resorting to clumsy and ineffective efforts to try to stir up unrest.”
“Today’s sanctions send a clear message: we will not tolerate their lies and interference, and we will pursue them. Putin’s desperate attempts to divide us will fail,” British authorities stated.
These companies and their leaders are responsible for a vast “malign online network,” commonly known as Doppelganger, that floods social media with false information, they added.
The sanctions generally prohibit the sanctioned entities and individuals from operating in the United Kingdom or entering the country.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
