Britain expresses concern over possible Russian interference in elections

The Sunday Times reported the information.

In particular, Dowden commented on an investigation by the Australian television channel ABC, which revealed an alleged Russian influence operation aimed at encouraging support for Nigel Farage's Reform UK party.

The channel tracked down five Facebook pages with a total of 190,000 followers who were posting the same images and texts in support of Eurosceptics in a coordinated manner. The administrators of these pages, who claim to be British, are mostly based in Nigeria. This is important, as it has been established that previous Russian propaganda networks on the Internet operated from Africa. 

As the British Deputy Prime Minister said, the revelation "reveal the real risk our democracy faces in this uncertain world."

"Malign foreign actors, promoting British political parties, policies and views that fit their agenda is just another example of the challenges in the increasingly volatile cyberspace of the 21st century and is gravely concerning to see during an election campaign," Dowden emphasized.

Earlier, the head of the ruling Conservative Party of Great Britain, Richard Holden, sent letters to the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, Simon Case, and the Prime Minister's National Security Adviser, Tim Barrow, demanding an investigation into information about Russia's possible influence on the British elections.

Farage sparked a wave of criticism last week after he said that the expansion of NATO and the European Union "provoked Moscow's invasion of Ukraine."

• In May, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced early parliamentary elections to be held on July 4.