PUTIN BOOT IN
Russia says it ‘has not and will never interfere in internal affairs’ after accusations of meddling in UK election
RUSSIA says it "has not and will never interfere in internal affairs" amid claims it “amplified” leaked government documents to help Jeremy Corbyn's election campaign.
The Kremlin laughed off the allegations calling them “foggy and contradictory” after Downing Street announced that "sensitive" material relating to a UK-US trade deal was “almost certainly” spread by “Russian actors.”
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The former Labour leader had tried to use the leaked NHS documents used to smear the Tories ahead of his disastrous election result.
They were first uploaded onto the internet site Reddit - but got no attention.
Russian actors then sought to promote them further and get more media attention to try and interfere in the UK's election, the Government said.
The Russian Embassy in London warned that "any unfriendly actions" will "not be left without a proper and adequate response".
The embassy said Moscow "has not and will never interfere in the internal affairs" of the UK and denied targeting efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine.
"We have also taken note of the Foreign Secretary's suggestion that the UK Government reserves the right to respond with appropriate measures in the future," a statement said.
"In this regard, we would like to state once again that any unfriendly actions against Russia will not be left without a proper and adequate response."
Russian foreign minister spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded to the claims branding them "anti-Russia nonsense."
She said: "The statement is so foggy and contradictory that it's practically impossible to understand it.
"If it’s inappropriate to say something then don't say it. If you say it, produce the facts”.
Today, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the alleged interference "unacceptable."
He said: "The Government has concluded that it is almost certain that Russian actors sought to interfere in the 2019 General Election through the online amplification of illicitly acquired and leaked Government documents.
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"Sensitive Government documents relating to the UK-US Free Trade Agreement were illicitly acquired before the 2019 General Election and disseminated online via the social media platform Reddit.
"When these gained no traction, further attempts were made to promote the illicitly acquired material online in the run up to the General Election.
"Whilst there is no evidence of a broad spectrum Russian campaign against the General Election, any attempt to interfere in our democratic processes is completely unacceptable.
"It is, and will always be, an absolute priority to protect our democracy and elections.
The Government said today:
- A criminal investigation is taking place to find those who leaked the documents
- A series of documents were put online but Russian actors were involved in trying to get it more traction
- More sanctions were threatened in response to the news
- Vladimir Putin was said to be behind repeated cyber attacks to try and steal a coronavirus vaccine from Britain
"There is an ongoing criminal investigation and it would be inappropriate for us to say anything further at this point."
Mr Corbyn responded to the claims in a Facebook post calling the docs "genuine."
He said: "The documents we revealed during the general election about the danger of a Trump trade deal for our NHS were genuine - as is the threat of a £500 million a week higher drugs bill.
"The Tories want to distract from the damage a Trump trade deal would do to our NHS by continuing to push the bogus claim Labour received Russian support.
"Today’s government claim is an attempt to divert attention from the threat to the NHS and the Tory party links to Russian oligarchs expected to be revealed in the long-buried parliamentary Russia report."
Mr Corbyn has been repeatedly accused of being soft on Russia, even refusing to blame them for the Salisbury Novichok attack.
The ousted hard left Labour leader would only go as far as saying “the evidence points strongly” to the Kremlin.
In March last year Mr Corbyn sparked a furious backlash after warning Theresa May against “rushing way ahead of the evidence” on Salisbury.
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His spokesman at the time said memories of the Iraqi “dodgy” dossier meant it was “problematic” to accept the Government’s position.
Labour today distanced themselves from Russia.
A spokesman said: “We condemn any attempt by Russia..to interfere in our country’s democratic processes.
"Labour stands ready to work cross-party to protect our nation’s security."
It came on the same day the UK was able to point the finger at Russia for the very first time in explosive claims President Putin knew about attacks on Britain's coronavirus vaccine project.
A joint operation with the US and Canada has uncovered a "malicious campaign" to steal information uncovered by Britain's top scientists on coronavirus with targeted attacks since March.
No10 said today they believe the attacks came from a group known at APT29 - part of the Russian intelligence service.
The clandestine group of hackers is also known as “the Dukes” or “Cozy Bear”.
The PM's official spokesman said today: "The attacks which are taking place against scientists and others doing vital work to combat coronavirus are despicable.
"Working with our allies, we will call out those who seek to do us harm in cyber space and hold them to account."
Dominic Raab's full statement
I AM today updating Parliament on the ongoing investigations into the leak of the UK-US Free Trade Agreement documents ahead of the General Election in 2019. The Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee has been briefed on the details of this incident.
The Government has robust systems in place to protect the UK against foreign malign influence. These bring together government, civil society and private sector organisations to monitor and respond to interference, to ensure our democracy stays open, transparent and resilient. During the 2019 General Election a cross-Government election security cell was stood up to coordinate responses to threats and hazards relating to the election.
On the basis of extensive analysis, the Government has concluded that it is almost certain that Russian actors sought to interfere in the 2019 General Election through the online amplification of illicitly acquired and leaked Government documents.
Sensitive Government documents relating to the UK-US Free Trade Agreement were illicitly acquired before the 2019 General Election and disseminated online via the social media platform Reddit. When these gained no traction, further attempts were made to promote the illicitly acquired material online in the run up to the General Election.
Whilst there is no evidence of a broad spectrum Russian campaign against the General Election, any attempt to interfere in our democratic processes is completely unacceptable. It is, and will always be, an absolute priority to protect our democracy and elections.
There is an ongoing criminal investigation and it would be inappropriate for us to say anything further at this point.
The Government reserves the right to respond with appropriate measures in the future.
The UK will continue to call out and respond to malign activity, including any attempts to interfere in our democratic processes, alongside our international partners. We fully support the recent action taken by our German partners who exposed Russian responsibility for the hack of their Parliament in 2015 as well as their intention to act against those responsible under the cyber sanctions regime. The UK Government laid the statutory instrument for our own cyber sanctions regime on 17 June.
The online forum Reddit confirmed the NHS leak was linked to the Kremlin in December last year.
The dossier of leaked minutes from trade talks, which Mr Corbyn claimed was evidence Boris Johnson would sell the NHS to Donald Trump, was ripped off the website.
A statement from Reddit at the time said: "We were recently made aware of a post on Reddit that included leaked documents from the UK.
"We investigated this account and the accounts connected to it, and today we believe this was part of a campaign that has been reported as originating from Russia."
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The Labour leader was branded a "foolish pawn" over the blunder.
Conservative Party chairman James Cleverley blasted: "Corbyn has some serious questions to answer.
"Is he a foolish pawn in a Russian disinformation campaign, or did he know where the leaked documents came from?"
Analysts at the time claimed the papers, waved by Mr Corbyn at an election rally, bore the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign called Secondary Infektion.
Labour were quick to pounce on the contents of the papers, claiming they revealed "the plot against our NHS".
Experts previously raised fears over the origin of the documents.
Ben Nimmo, head of investigations at media analytics outfit Graphika, said: “It’s on the same set of websites, it’s using the same types of accounts and making the same language errors.
"It’s either the Russian operation or someone trying hard to look like it.”
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Ousted MP and Corbynite Laura Pidcock even got into a row with Sky's Kay Burley over the documents, refusing five times to say whether the party's leaked NHS dossier came from Russia.
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The then shadow secretary of state for employment rights got into a spat with the journalist days after Jeremy Corbyn claimed he'd found "evidence" that the NHS would be up for sale in a series of papers.
The original Reddit posting was uploaded on October 21 but was little known until Mr Corbyn unveiled it at a highly trailed campaign event.
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Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on whether Labour did anything wrong as report says Russian hackers tried to interfere in UK election
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