Independent reveals surge in Russian disinformation targeting UK
Osavul analysis finds Kremlin-linked media pushed tens of thousands of fake stories portraying Britain as ungovernable and defenceless.
What to know
- Osavul found Russian state-affiliated media output about the UK rose about 15% in September to roughly 40,365 stories, with similar volumes in October.
- False narratives include claims the UK bombed Voronezh, police threatening arrests over air conditioners, imminent blackouts, and Andy Burnham being powerless to stop UK collapse.
- 1,019 messages from 172 high-risk accounts exploited Keir Starmer's resignation and Labour government's collapse, generating 93,548 engagements.
- Experts tie the escalation to Trump's warmer ties with Russia, UK support for Ukraine, and AI tools making disinformation faster and cheaper to produce.
“marred by a rampage by gangs that carried out the sexual exploitation of children”
Russian state-affiliated media (per Osavul analysis), disinformation claim about Keir Starmer's tenure · The Independent ↗ · Oct 31
Vladimir Putin Russian president
Bill Browder Anti-corruption campaigner, Putin criticOsavul Risk intelligence firm
Andy Burnham UK political figure (Greater Manchester mayor)
Keir Starmer Former UK Prime Minister
Donald Trump US President
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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Browder warns AI will supercharge Russian disinformation
Anti-corruption campaigner and Putin critic Bill Browder told The Independent the disinformation campaigns have already had major success in the UK and could escalate sharply without government intervention.
“I don't think we've even begun to see how AI will be used in this whole thing.”
— Bill Browder -
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2 more of the top 3 · 5 posts in this stretch
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https://www. europesays.com/3346758/ Russia ramps up disinformation war with propaganda claiming UK is ‘ungovernable and defenceless’ # GreatBritain # UnitedKingdom
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What part of that is wrong? I'm happy to correct myself if I'm wrong, but while I highly doubt it, even that wouldn't be an example of disinformation as it would be ignorance on my part, not a deliberate attempt to spread false information knowing it is wrong. As we see from the downvotes, it really riles up the Putin supporters.
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background
Fabricated claims target UK leadership and infrastructure — Examples cited include false claims the UK bombed Voronezh with Storm Shadow missiles, that police threatened arrests over air conditioner use, that Andy Burnham was "powerless to stop the UK's collapse," and distorted narratives around Keir Starmer's resignation tied to the grooming-gangs scandal, with 1,019 messages from 172 high-risk accounts generating 93,548 engagements.
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background
Independent exposes Russian disinformation surge targeting UK — Analysis by risk intelligence firm Osavul, which supplies technology to Nato, found Russian state-affiliated media output about the UK rose roughly 15% in September to about 40,365 stories, with similar volumes in October, portraying Britain as ungovernable, defenceless and a legitimate target.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by The Independent, 9d ago · also Independent UK, Newswav
1 more headline
- Russia floods UK with disinformation as Putin's propaganda war hits new levels The Independent · 9d ago
What people are saying 2 voices from 1 site · best of 5 · verbatim
- Nov 2
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If it was wrong, it would be misinformation, i said it’s an example of disinformation.
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The Russia / Iran-backed disinformation campaign against Ukraine and Israel (and the anti-West sentiment in general) come to mind