Russia’s disinformation war on the UK has reached new highs as Kremlin-backed media seek to sow chaos amongst Britons and ramp up attacks on their “main adversary”, experts warn.
In the past six months, state-affiliated media have pushed hundreds of thousands of stories on social media portraying Britain as ungovernable, defenceless, and a legitimate Russian target, The Independent can reveal.
Analysis by risk intelligence firm Osavul, which tracks global hybrid threats and supplies technology to Nato, shows such media output rose by around 15 per cent in September, when it produced around 40,365 stories about the UK, while similar levels of disinformation pushed in October.
False claims that the UK bombed the city of Voronezh with storm shadow missiles, that British police were threatening to arrest people for using air conditioners, and that Andy Burnham was “powerless to stop the UK’s collapse” are among several posts seen by The Independent.
Osavul said the aim was “to leave British readers with a lower opinion of their own state, and readers abroad with the sense that Britain is not a serious power”.
…
Britain does not need to fear a Russian invasion. It needs to wake up to the one that has already happened in our politics, our economy, and our national soul.
‘For years, British politicians warned that “the Russians are coming.” The phrase conjured images of spies, hackers, and shadowy figures manipulating Western democracies from afar. But the truth is starker: they are not coming they are already here. The influence of Putin’s Russia has seeped deep into British political life, reshaping the nation’s direction through propaganda, financial infiltration, and the nurturing of divisive political figures. The evidence is all around us in the rise of Nigel Farage, Reform, the toxicity of Brexit, and the slow, deliberate decline of Britain’s economic and democratic strength. The seeds were planted long before the referendum. When UKIP and later the Brexit Party now Reform UK surged to prominence, their rhetoric carried echoes of Russian disinformation: anti-EU, anti-immigrant, anti-establishment. Each slogan was designed to pit neighbour against neighbour, region against region, and Britain against its own interests. Russia’s playbook has always been about destabilisation, and few events have destabilised Britain more than Brexit. Nigel Farage, feted by Russian state media as a “man of the people” and given disproportionate airtime by RT (Russia Today), became the perfect vehicle. His populism masked a geopolitically convenient mission: to weaken the European Union and fracture Western unity. Nathan Gill, Farage’s close ally and UKIP MEP, echoed the same anti-Brussels line, parroting narratives that dovetailed neatly with Kremlin talking points. The push for Brexit was not simply a domestic rebellion it was a geopolitical victory for Moscow. By removing Britain from the EU, Putin achieved through propaganda what decades of espionage never could: a divided, isolated Britain, struggling to find its footing in a global economy that has moved on without it. The results are plain to see. The UK’s economy is shrinking relative to its peers. Public services are starved of funds. Inflation and interest rates squeeze households while infrastructure crumbles. Britain, once a pillar of European stability, is now plagued by instability of its own making. And who benefits? Russia watching gleefully as one of NATO’s key members turns inward, distracted by culture wars and internal strife. The links between Russian money and the British right are no longer mere conspiracy. Under Boris Johnson, the Tory Party accepted millions in donations from individuals with ties to the Russian elite even as intelligence agencies warned of growing Kremlin interference. Johnson himself shelved the long-delayed “Russia Report,” which detailed how deeply Moscow had infiltrated British political and financial systems. Instead of confronting the threat, he and his allies downplayed it while their media surrogates, The Daily Mail, branded anyone who raised concerns as “Remoaners” or “traitors.” Meanwhile, Nigel Farage continues to parrot lines that have been written in the Kremlin press office. His public sympathy for Putin’s “understandable” invasion of Ukraine, his criticism of NATO expansion, and his insistence that the West “provoked” Russia reveal the depth of his alignment with Moscow’s worldview. Farage and his Reform movement are the tools in a decades-long campaign through direct command, and through shared goals: dismantle trust in democracy, erode Western alliances, and replace reasoned politics with perpetual anger. Farage as a fascist knows his next move is to gain power through the ballot box. Following that, the dismantling of the democratic system and replacement with his authoritarian regime. The Russians are not coming. They have already won their quiet war not with tanks or troops, but with propaganda, money, and manipulation, and the active participation of Farage and his secret army of Fascists. Their victory is visible every time a politician like Farage blames Britain’s struggles on migrants instead of oligarchic corruption, every time the Daily Mail echoes disinformation, and every time the government prioritises division over unity.’

Well I’m glad to hear we’re back to being their main adversary again. I was a little hurt when they started saying Portugal were for stopping their tankers the other month.
By the by Putler, no one in the UK is buying it other than the ones you’re paying.
That said some of the things I’ve seen MAGA types saying about what they think is going on in the UK is absolutely fueled by this sort of misinformation.
Ahh look, the MAGAts live in their own fantasy world of made up alternate facts and a total disconnect from science, I’ve long since given up on them. Orcs gunna be orcs.
And what are we going to do with GB News and Nigel Farage, who distribute this shit? Still nothing?
Oh there is definitely a reckoning to be had over at Ofcom, no doubt Nigel Farage is not the only one on the take from shadowy crypto billionaires.
Note that the “Independent” would not post a similar article about direct Israeli influence in our government and in Labour, the Tories and Reform parties. Instead it bloviates about the so-called “threat” of Russian disinformation and how apparently destabilising it is, when everyone in government is roundly supportive of Ukraine and continuously back policies to increase military spending and sabre-rattling against Russia.
How can Russia have these supposed super powers of influence when the people in power and the opposition are all singing from the same anti-Russian hymn sheet? How does that make any sense at all? Clearly they’re absolutely shit at their jobs otherwise there might be some mainstream opposition to the consensus pro-NATO and anti-Russia positions.
Note that the “Independent” would not post a similar article about direct Israeli influence in our government and in Labour, the Tories and Reform parties.
This is the usual whataboutism and an outright lie. I just searched the website and found numerous articles critical of alleged Israeli influence in the UK, including Labour, Conservatives, and others.
Last article I can see from the independent explicitly on the Israeli influence in British politics is from 2014 you absolute liar.
I also find it interesting how you don’t deal with the rest of my comment. Maybe because the full context of the comment reveals it wasn’t “whataboutism” but a comparison in what real influence actually gets you, and the utter ineffectiveness of so-called Russian misinformation.
France investigates whether Israeli firm BlackCore interfered in local elections - (May 2026)
It’s time to put [British] Conservatives’ links with Israel under the spotlight, a comment’s headline said in April 2024.
I found these and more articles literally within a minute.
You are just one of these 15-year olds who are so monopolized by propaganda that they can no longer make even a simple web search and read comprehensively.
And what makes things worse is your tonality. We all can make mistakes, but your I-know-the-ultimate-truth-and-everyone-else-is-wrong tankie style approach prevents you from thinking critically. It does nothing than hurting your own personal development.
[Edit typo.]
First one - French not British. Edit: also look at the vastly different way it treats the concept of Israeli influence to Russian influence: lots of fact-checking by Reuters, making sure the readers know there’s no possible link to Israel, conjuring the idea that the left wing in France are jumping at shadows and falling for anti-semitic lies.
Second - Guest commentary and columns that require membership don’t show up in normal search engines, and also are clearly not the same as an actual attempt at a “news” article. “And more” also doing a lot of heavy lifting.
You constantly re-post articles that confirm your biases on China and Russia (most of which are absolutely partisan hack-quality trash that are basically excuses to quote anti-Russian and anti-China parliamentary sub-groups - I.e. not factual and barely news), and you have the audacity to talk about being “monopolized (sic) by propaganda”?
Guest commentary and columns that require membership don’t show up in normal search engines
Why did I find it then and you don’t?
It showed up for me when I looked back at my search on like the third page of results - probably because fuck all people read it because it’s locked behind a paywall and the fact, as stated, that it isn’t a news article. Interestingly, here’s the political editor of the Independent on why he believes Keir Starmer’s government didn’t act sooner against Israel https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-israel-gaza-starmer-david-lammy-sanctions-trade-b2754928.html
Here is him smearing the idea that there is undue Israeli influence in the labour party:
Antisemitic conspiracy theories suggesting Labour is being held back by Zionist interests can readily be found on social media, but none of this is true."
The ‘real reason’?
In reality, Labour under Sir Keir Starmer has been held back by a sense of shame.
A visible reminder of this came when former leader Jeremy Corbyn got to his feet to challenge Lammy. Under Corbyn’s leadership, Labour became so immersed in antisemitism and so marginalised the Jewish community that the party has had to continue working hard to restore its reputation
It showed up for me when I looked back at my search on like the third page of results
First, you say it doesn’t show up. Now, as it is clear that this is wrong, you are fabricating the next (false) narrative only then to deflect into another topic.
And, again, here are more than these two.
But more importantly, it has nothing to do with Russia ramping up the disinformation war on the UK with propaganda claiming Britain is ‘ungovernable and defenceless’
Special propaganda operation.
Name ‘n Shame, get it out there.



