The growing political feud between Russia and the West has spurred the activation of specialized propaganda and intelligence units. With regards to the Ukraine crisis, experts say one of the most active parties has been the United Kingdom, which in recent years has stepped up its efforts to demonise Russia by waging a full-scale propaganda war.
As an RT analysis has shown, Britain's "HMG Russia Unit," an interdepartmental government organization created several years ago, has acted as a front for soft influence operations against Moscow with the assistance of international consulting organizations.
Up until now, the activities of the operation had not been publicly visible. However, last month publications containing its employees' personal information appeared in a number of Russian Telegram channels. It is alleged that the email addresses included in these posts belong to employees of the HMG Russia Unit who are also connected to various other UK government departments, including the Cabinet Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, military intelligence, MI5, and the Ministry of Defence, as well as American curators attached to the group.
To begin with, let's explain how a group specifically targeting Russia
appeared within the British government, what its purpose is, and what it
does.
"The government has long recognized the presence of a sustained and
significant threat from Russia to the UK and its allies, including both
conventional military capabilities and disinformation, illegal financial
transactions, influence operations, and cyber-attacks," said a report
submitted to parliament by the Office of the British Prime Minister in
2020.
For the British government, Russia has become "one of the main priorities from the point of view of national security," it adds.
"This is why in 2017 the Government implemented the NSC-endorsed
(National Security Council — RT) Russia Strategy, and in 2017
established the cross-Government Russia Unit which brings together the
UK's diplomatic, intelligence and military capabilities to maximum
effect," the report goes on to say.
According to the British government's own reports, the HMG Russia Unit,
which was formally attached to the UK Foreign Office, was primarily
tasked with coordinating information and propaganda campaigns aimed
against Russia. This can be traced from data released
by the British government and, in particular, from a large-scale
program financed by the UK Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF)
that was carried out by the Foreign Office up until 2021 to develop
media resources, including in Russian, and so-called "counter
disinformation."
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