"Russophobia in a fake cut": the Foreign Ministry reacted to the publication of a British report on "Russian intervention"

The Russian Foreign Ministry called "Russophobia" the report of the British Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security, which refers to "Russian interference" in the internal affairs of the Kingdom. This was stated by the official representative of the department Maria Zakharova.

“There was no sensation. Russophobia in a fake cut, ”TASS quoted her as saying.

In turn, the presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that Russia has never interfered in the electoral processes in any country.

“We do not do this ourselves and do not tolerate when other countries try to interfere in our political affairs,” he said.

The committee had previously published a 50-page report claiming that Britain is one of the "prime targets of Russian intelligence in the west." The authors of the report claim that Russia is allegedly a threat to the security of Britain. They also noted the need to give the British intelligence services additional powers to enable them to "resist the Russian threat."

“It is difficult for the West to deal with the security threat posed by Russia, because, in our opinion and the opinion of many others, it is fundamentally nihilistic. It seems that Russia considers foreign policy a game of defeat: any of its actions that harm the West, in fact, are beneficial to it. In addition, it seems that Russia is overwhelmed with paranoid thoughts that Western institutions such as NATO and the EU are much more aggressive towards it than they really are, ”the report says.

In addition, the report states that the Russian Federation allegedly "seeks to undermine the international order based on rules", at the same time benefiting from its membership in international political and economic institutions. Also, the British side claims that Russia allegedly wants to be considered a resurgent "great power", in particular, having a dominant influence in the countries of the former USSR.

In addition, in the document, the British side accuses Russia of "cyber attacks" and "dissemination of disinformation." In particular, it is alleged that the RT channel and the Sputnik agency allegedly biasedly covered the referendum on Britain's membership in the EU in 2016.

“It was widely reported that Russia was spreading disinformation and trying to expand its political influence abroad. Examples include the use of state-owned traditional media - open source research has shown serious distortions in the coverage of events by state-owned international broadcasters such as RT and Sputnik, ”the text says.

The report also states that the United States has publicly stated that Russia was organizing hacks and leaks during the 2016 presidential elections, and that Russia was responsible for a similar operation during the 2017 French presidential elections. In addition, the document says about the active use of "bots" and "trolls" in social networks.

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Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Alexei Chepa, in a conversation with RT, noted the unsubstantiation of the statements presented in the report.

“This does not in the least contribute to the convergence of interests, but even more divides,” he said.

In turn, the director of the Institute of Contemporary State Development Dmitry Solonnikov noted that the presentation of such accusations may be beneficial to Britain for several reasons. On the one hand, this is working out the agenda, which is that you can try to raise the issue of depriving Russia of its status in a number of international organizations, in particular, in the UN Security Council, the expert noted in an interview with RT. 

“This report also plays in this direction. Naturally, nothing will happen, but it is interesting to keep updating this topic for a number of international players, Britain is participating in this process. The second point: Britain, after leaving the EU, is trying to find its place in international politics and identify itself as a new strong center in the alignment of international forces, different from Brussels, ”he explained.

To do this, London needs "beautiful fashion reports" on topics that are in demand by a number of representatives of the Western establishment.

“Russia, as it was the“ main villain ”for a number of world players, so it remains for them, to play in this field, once again show its relevance, act here as an initiator,“ let's rally, let's unite, no longer within the EU, but within the framework of some new policy, giving a new image of Britain - it may be interesting, ”he said.

Let us remind you that Russia has repeatedly denied accusations of attempts to influence democratic processes in other states. In particular, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recalled that no evidence was presented regarding Moscow's attempts to influence the internal politics of other countries.