EU imposes sanctions on Russian companies spreading war propaganda

The Council of the European Union has imposed sanctions on seven Russian citizens and five companies involved in spreading disinformation about Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 28 July.

Source: EU Council report; European Pravda

Details: The EU's new restrictive measures target seven individuals and five legal entities in Russia responsible for the information manipulation campaign known as RRN (Recent Reliable News).

The campaign involved spreading pro-Russian propaganda through fake websites and social media accounts imitating famous European media and government portals.

The report states that "this coordinated and targeted information manipulation is part of a broader hybrid campaign by Russia against the EU and the member states."

The sanctions were imposed against Inforos, a company linked to Russian military intelligence controlling over 270 fake websites with pro-Russian propaganda, and its three founders.

The sanctions were introduced against the autonomous non-profit organisation Dialogue, created by the Kremlin authorities and closely linked to the Russian President's Administration; the Institute of the Russian Diaspora; as well as the Social Design Agency and Structura National Technologies, two Russian IT companies involved in the RRN campaign, and their representatives.

A total of about 1,800 individuals and legal entities are currently subject to EU restrictive measures against actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

Background:

• The Russian disinformation campaign first came to light in June, when France reported the exposure of an online disinformation campaign involving Russian actors, as well as state or Russian-linked entities.

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