The UK today sanctioned three Russian firms and their leaders for a propaganda campaign that attempted to weaken European support for Ukraine.
The sanctions are aimed at the Russian state-funded Social Design Agency (SDA), along with partner company Structura National Technologies and PR firm ANO DIALOG, which a UK statement said “attempted to deliver a series of interference operations designed to undermine democracy and weaken international support for Ukraine.”
The UK action follows a similar one by the U.S. in early September that was aimed at reducing the influence of the firms – which are also known as the “Doppelganger” disinformation campaign – on the presidential election and U.S. views of Ukraine. U.S. officials cheered the UK news in a statement today.
The UK said the action was also supported by Canada, France, the European External Action Service (EEAS), Germany and Australia.
‘Doppelganger’ Campaign Targeted Europe Too
In addition to its U.S. efforts, the UK said SDA “also attempted to incite protests in half a dozen European countries.”
The Russian campaign was low quality, however, and struggled to gain traction.
“However, despite Russia pouring money into these malign organisations’ interference activities, their lies have consistently struggled online, with bots and fake sites getting limited interaction,” the UK statement said. “This has forced the SDA to consider buying social media views.”
In a somewhat taunting statement, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:
“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.”
In addition to the three firms, the UK also sanctioned:
- Ilya Andreevich Gambashidze, the founder of SDA
- Nikolay Aleksandrovich Tupikin, the CEO of SDA and owner of Structura
- Andrey Naumovich Perla, SDA Project Director
UK Accuses Firms of ‘Vast Malign Network’
The sanctioned firms and individuals are responsible for a “vast malign online network … which plagues social media with fake posts, counterfeit documents and deepfake material,” the UK said. “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.”
The firms’ content was distributed in English, German and French through a network of at least 120 sites that spoofed existing news and government websites in an attempt to redirect unsuspecting social media users. Doppelganger’s tactics included avoiding common trigger words to make sure the content made it past moderation tools.
“We are working with social media platforms to ensure they are aware of this activity,” the UK said.
France first exposed the campaign in June 2023, and European sanctions soon followed. Doppelganger was also active in this year’s European parliamentary elections.
U.S. Cheers UK Sanctions
The U.S. State Department said in a statement that it welcomes the UK actions.
“An open, free, and fact-based information environment is central to a well-functioning democratic society,” the U.S. statement said. “When malign actors working as tools of the Kremlin exploit and undermine that environment, democracies must respond. This and other recent exposure efforts targeting Kremlin disinformation demonstrate the growing coordination between the United States, the United Kingdom, and our multilateral partners. Together, we will continue to promote accountability for foreign malign information operations that seek to undermine our societies and democratic processes.”
The U.S. statement also noted that Doppelganger engaged in a “pro-Kremlin information laundering scheme in twelve Latin American countries, where Kremlin-produced disinformation was covertly placed in local outlets to appear as genuine news articles.”
