Vladimir Putin’s army of saboteurs could reportedly “sow chaos, panic or distrust” in the UK as Russian security services see Britain as a “number one target” an expert has warned.
Britain has provided support for Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
However, the support, be it in weapons, intelligence or resources has reportedly provoked the ire of Russian military and security figures.
This has reportedly led to Russia ’s FSB viewing Britain as a “number one target”.
Ed Johnson, head of global intelligence at the Sibylline strategic risk group, warned that Putin’s saboteurs may seek to “sow chaos” in the UK and UK government.
Want all the latest news and analysis from Ukraine? Sign up to our World News Bulletin here
This he alleged could take a number of forms from attacks on infrastructure to targeting individuals or a cyber attack.
Speaking to The Express, he said this could range from "taking down a substation and amplifying the effect through a cyber attack" to bringing "hard currency into Britain to finance separatist organisations".
He added that MPs, agents or government officials could also be targets for Russian operatives, who he said could even go as far as releasing “embarrassing documents”.
Mr Johnson went on to argue that the FSB “now has lot to prove” after significant amounts of its pre-invasion intelligence led to major miscalculations in the Kremlin’s war plans.
These claims follow revelations that Russian troll farms set up by Vladimir Putin are targeting leading government politicians.
Whitehall sources added that some cyber warriors with the PM and Defence Secretary in their sights could be based in Britain.
They have mirrored the tactics employed by the likes of Islamic State and QAnon conspiracy theorists to make their posts more effective.
It also allows them to evade counter-measures used by Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Telegram to block their messages.
Now British authorities are asking the media companies to beef up their controls to stop the accounts.
This also follows a new disinformation campaign that has been launched by Russia/
Their legions of online trolls are believed to be attempting to amplify social media accounts that are “sympathetic” to Russia and its invasion of Ukraine.
It is claimed that the trolls will boost pro-Russian content whilst only bending social media rules, to prevent them being booted off the platforms.
The new unit known as Cyber Front Z based in St Petersburg recruits patriotic Russians and Kremlin sympathisers abroad to bombard politicians and comment websites with lies about the Ukraine War.
The operation has suspected links to Putin crony Yevgeniy Prigozhin, founder of bot-farm the Internet Research Agency which tried to nobble the 2016 US presidential election.
The plan is to manipulate public opinion in favour of Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine and has spread its tentacles across Europe and into India and South Africa.
