{"id":33872,"date":"2026-05-11T15:23:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T15:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/33872\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T15:23:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T15:23:21","slug":"u-k-sanctions-russian-disinformation-outfit-over-plot-to-sway-armenian-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/33872\/","title":{"rendered":"U.K. Sanctions Russian \u2018Disinformation\u2019 Outfit Over Plot to Sway Armenian Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The British government on Monday sanctioned 85 individuals and entities accused of meddling in Armenia\u2019s upcoming elections and orchestrating the forced deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"5\">The new measures target 49 employees of the Social Design Agency (SDA), a group already under Western <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themoscowtimes.com\/2024\/10\/28\/uk-sanctions-3-russian-pr-firms-senior-managers-a86835\" title=\"sanctions\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">sanctions<\/a> for alleged election interference. British officials described the sanctioned staff, including writers, translators and video producers, as part of a Kremlin-funded operation designed to mimic Western news outlets to spread disinformation.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6\">\u201cThe SDA has been tasked and funded by the Kremlin to deliver a series of interference operations designed to undermine democracy and weaken support for Ukraine,\u201d the Foreign Office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/uk-targets-hostile-and-heinous-russian-activity-with-latest-sanctions\" title=\"said\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> in a statement.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7\">London accused the SDA of attempting to install pro-Moscow figures in Armenia ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for June 7. Tensions between the two nations have spiked recently following Armenia\u2019s moves toward EU membership and a visit to Yerevan last week by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"8\">The sanctions also hit ANO Dialog and its leadership. British authorities allege the group has coordinated with Russian intelligence to influence Armenia\u2019s domestic politics.<\/p>\n<p>\t\tnews<br \/>\n\t\t<a data-id=\"in-article-block\" class=\"related-article__inner\" href=\"https:\/\/www.themoscowtimes.com\/2026\/05\/11\/russia-scolds-ally-armenia-for-hosting-zelensky\" title=\"Russia Scolds Ally Armenia for Hosting Zelensky\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tRussia Scolds Ally Armenia for Hosting Zelensky<br \/>\n\t\t\tRead more<br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9\">A second part of the latest sanctions package focuses on the so-called \u201cRussification\u201d of Ukrainian children. Among those targeted are the leaders of Yunarmiya (Youth Army) and Movement of the First, government-backed organizations that combine military training with ideological indoctrination.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"10\">The list also includes several children\u2019s boarding houses in annexed Crimea, which the U.K. claims are involved in the forced relocation of minors.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"11\">Since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the United Kingdom has sanctioned more than 3,300\u00a0individuals, entities and ships linked to the Russian state.<\/p>\n<p>A Message from The Moscow Times:<\/p>\n<p>Dear readers,<\/p>\n<p>We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia&#8217;s Prosecutor General&#8217;s Office has designated The Moscow Times as an &#8220;undesirable&#8221; organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a &#8220;foreign agent.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work &#8220;discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership.&#8221; We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.<\/p>\n<p>We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themoscowtimes.com\/contribute?utm_source=contribute&amp;utm_medium=article\" title=\"we need your help\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">we need your help<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It&#8217;s quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.<\/p>\n<p>By supporting The Moscow Times, you&#8217;re defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tContinue\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/payment_icons.png\" alt=\"paiment methods\" width=\"160\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Not ready to support today? <br class=\"hidden-sm-up\"\/>Remind me later.<\/p>\n<p>\u00d7<\/p>\n<p>\t\tRemind me next month<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tThank you! Your reminder is set.\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tWe will send you one reminder email a month from now. For details on the personal data we collect and how it is used, please see our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themoscowtimes.com\/page\/privacy-policy\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"privacy policy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The British government on Monday sanctioned 85 individuals and entities accused of meddling in Armenia\u2019s upcoming elections and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[522,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-33872","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-sanctions","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116556634666889689","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}