UK media is reporting that the UK government has sanctioned six Russians it said were spreading disinformation. According to a Reuters report:
July 4, 2022 Britain said it would on Tuesday introduce new economic, trade and transport sanctions on Belarus over its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and also sanctioned six Russians it said were spreading disinformation. […] The six Russians named by Britain’s finance ministry on Monday were mostly associated with the websites SouthFront and NewsFront, which Britain said had “spread disinformation relating to Ukraine and promoted the Government of Russia’s false narrative about the Russian invasion of Ukraine”. Britain also sanctioned United World International, which it called an “online news site which promotes pro-Russian disinformation”. Under the sanctions, British financial institutions must freeze immediately any assets they hold on behalf of sanctioned individuals or companies and report them to the government.
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The UK Treasury released a financial sanctions notice identifying the following six Russian individuals and one media outlet as “contributors of disinformation in relation to Ukraine and the Russian invasion of Ukraine”:
- Aleyona Anatolyevna CHUGULEVA, SouthFront volunteer
- Yuriy Sergeyevich FEDIN, CEO NewsFront
- Darya Aleksandrovna DUGINA
- Yevgeniy Eduardovich GLOTOV, Deputy Director of Newsfront
- Aelita Leonidovna MAMAKOVA, Responsible for soliciting financial donations from readers to SouthFront and publishing material
- Mikhail Anatolyevich SINELIN, Cofounder of Newsfront
- UNITED WORLD INTERNATIONAL, described as “an online news site which promotes pro-Russian disinformation.”
Concerning UNITED WORLD INTERNATIONAL, the sanctions added, “There are reasonable grounds to believe that this entity is or has been involved supporting, or promoting policies or actions which destabilises Ukraine or undermines or threatens the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine.”
The Global Influence Operations Report (GIOR) reported in April 2021 that SouthFront and Newsfront were among a group of Russian disinformation outlets designated by the US over disinformation efforts and interference in the presidential elections. In March 2022, we reported that the US added several individuals associated with those outlets, including United World International, to its designated entities and individuals list.
In March, an exclusive GIOR investigation revealed that United World International appears to be controlled by a pro-Russian Turkish political party, the Patriotic Party (Turkish: Vatan Partisi).