Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the U.K.was imposing sanctions on the microblogging Telegram channel Rybar, the Foundation for the Support and Protection of the Rights of Compatriots Living Abroad — described by Estonian intelligence as a front for the GRU spy agency — and the Center for Geopolitical Expertise, a think-tank run by far-right Russian writer Aleksandr Dugin.Two China-based firms also were sanctioned “for their vast and indiscriminate cyber activities against the U.K.and its allies,” Cooper said.In a speech at the Foreign Office in London, Cooper said Britain and its allies face escalating “hybrid threats … designed to weaken critical national infrastructure, undermine our interests and interfere in our democracies.”“We should call this out for what it is: Russian information warfare.
And we are defending ourselves,” Cooper said.She said threats include physical attacks such as sabotage as well as disinformation campaigns “flooding social media with generative AI and manipulated videos” aimed at undermining Western support for Ukraine’s resistance to Russian invasion.Popular ReadsAlina Habba resigns as New Jersey US attorney after appeals court defeatDec 8, 2:10 PMCharges upgraded to murder in hospital stabbing of San Francisco social worker4 hours agoTrump admin live updates: Trump pardons former entertainment exec indicted by own DOJDec 4, 6:23 AMBritish officials point to fake websites and political ads during Moldova’s recent election and fake news sites carrying videos with false claims about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife designed to undermine support for Ukraine.Cooper delivered her speech to mark 100 years since the signing of the Locarno Treaties, a set of agreements among European nations that bolstered peace in Europe after World War I.
