VK Denies Report That UK Government Uses Ads on Platform to Spread Its Views on Ukraine

LONDON (Sputnik) - The British authorities have been paying advertising agencies to spread London's view of the situation in Ukraine on the Russian social media service V Kontakte (VK), The Sunday Telegraph reports.

The VK (V kontakte) social network has blasted a report by The Sunday Telegraph about British authorities spreading their political stance via ads on the platform, saying that the information is fake.

"The information in the reports is not true. Promotion on our advertising platforms is subjected to mandatory moderation. Only those ads that comply with the rules of VK and the legislation of the Russian Federation can be shown on VK resources and the advertising network", an official statement read.

Previously, The Sunday Telegraph reported that a new counter-disinformation unit, the Government Information Cell (GIC), which was set up at the direction of British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss before Russia started its special military operation in Ukraine, is now working on analysing online and broadcast material to "identify disinformation and tackle it".

The company, however, addressed the report, saying it is fake.

GIC staff come from the British Foreign Office and the Defence Ministry, as well as the Home Office, Cabinet Office, and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

"...the unit has been commissioning advertising agencies to target the Russian population with its messages on sites such as VK", The Sunday Telegraph said, explaining that the British authorities aim to spread London's stance on certain issues among Russians who would have never specifically searched for the UK government's opinions.

In the early hours of 24 February, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) appealed for help in defending themselves against Kiev's forces. Russia said that the aim of its special operation is to demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine and that only military infrastructure is being targeted - the civilian population is not in danger. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it has no plans to occupy Ukraine.

In response to Russia's operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow, which includes airspace closures and restrictive measures targeting numerous Russian officials and entities, media (the RT broadcaster and the Sputnik news agency in particular), and financial institutions.

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