The Foreign Office has fired the latest salvo in the information war being fought between Britain and Russia following the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal.
As Theresa May attempts to convince the world that she is right in blaming Russia for the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, government officials put together an online video accusing the Kremlin of a ‘campaign of disinformation’.
The video lists all the wild theories put out by Putin’s media, including that Yulia Skripal’s mother-in-law was somehow in involved.
The Foreign Office has poured scorn on Russia’s ‘disinformation’ campaign after the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, including the theory that her mother-in-law was involved
The video was posted on the official Foreign Office Twitter feed in an apparent response to the ‘trolling’ posts put up by the Russian Embassy in the two weeks since the poisoning.
The government department’s video states: ‘The Kremlin and Russian state media have responded to the Salisbury attack with denial, distraction and threats.
‘They have refused to offer an explanation instead launching a campaign of disinformation.’
It then lists all the theories put forward by Russian state media including that ‘the UK did it to fuel anti-Russian sentiment, Ukraine did it to frame Russia, the US did it to destabilise the world’.
The video cites Kremlin-backed media as having claimed the ‘Novichok’ nerve agent came from the Czech Republic, Slovakia or Sweden.
The video continues: ‘One Kremlin-connected channel now claims it was Ms Skripal’s mother-in-law.’
It concludes: ‘Despite their disinformation and denials, the UK has not jumped to conclusions. We are fully complying with the obligations of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
‘International leaders agree that there is no plausible alternative explanation. It is highly likely that Russia was responsible for this attack.’
Kirill Kleimenov, presenter of Channel One’s flagship Vremya news programme, said few traitors lived to old age and that it was not a good idea for them to go to Britain
Russia’s Embassy has been accused of making jokes about the chemical weapons attack
Russia’s state-backed media outlets have produced a whirlwind of explanations since Mr Skripal and his daughter were attacked with a military grade nerve agent two weeks ago.
Just days after the attack, Kirill Kleimenov, the presenter of a flagship news show on Russia’s government-controlled Channel One, issued an apparent threat to ‘traitors’.
He said: ‘I don’t wish death on anyone, but for purely educational purposes, I have a warning for anyone who dreams of such a career… don’t choose Britain as a place to live.’
Russian TV station Mash Telegram then reported that Yulia Skripal had argued with her boyfriend’s mother, a highly-ranked Russian security official, after he said they wanted to start a family.
Her prospective mother-in-law was said to have been upset that he wanted to marry into the family of a man viewed as a ‘traitor’ by many in Moscow.
Russia’s Embassy has also been accused of joking about the attack – which left a British police officer in hospital. The embassy has posted pictures of literary detective Poirot online, saying he should be brought in to investigate.
The Embassy has fired off a series of sneering tweets since the chemical weapons attack