The UK has announced sanctions against Russian media outlets, after a senior British diplomat warned that Western countries must step up their game in combating information warfare by "malign foreign states".
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK was imposing sanctions on the Telegram channel "Rybar", the Foundation for the Support and Protection of the Rights of Compatriots Living Abroad - which the Estonian intelligence service describes as a front for the GRU intelligence agency - and the Centre for Geopolitical Expertise, a think tank run by far-right Russian writer Alexander Dugin.
Two China-based firms were also sanctioned "for their massive and indiscriminate cyber activities against the UK and its allies," Cooper said.
Speaking at the Foreign Office in London, Cooper said the UK and its allies were facing an escalation of "hybrid threats designed to weaken critical national infrastructure, undermine interests and interfere with British democracy".
"We should declare this for what it is: Russian information warfare. And we are defending ourselves," she added.
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