UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has announced 14 new sanctions on Thursday on Russian propagandists and state media who spread lies and deceit about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
This includes Sergey Brilev, famous TV anchor on Russia's state-owned media Rossiya and propagandist for Russian President Vladimir Putin, UK Foreign Office said on Friday. Having previously lived in the UK, Brilev will no longer be able to access any of his UK assets or continue business dealings.
The government is also directly sanctioning state media organisations, targeting the Kremlin-funded TV-Novosti which owns RT, formerly Russia Today, and Rossiya Segodnya who controls news agency Sputnik.
Following Ofcom's decision to revoke RT's broadcasting licence, these sanctions will ensure RT will not be able to find its way back on UK televisions and will prevent companies and individuals operating in the UK from doing business with Russian state propaganda vehicles RT and Sputnik, and key figures in those organisations.
According to UK Foreign Office, disinformation is part of the Kremlin playbook and is used by Putin's regime to obscure the truth of his unjust invasion.
Other "propagandists" sanctioned today include Aleksandr Zharov, Chief Executive Officer of Gazprom-Media and former Head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor), Alexey Nikolov, Managing Director of RT and Anton Anisimov, Head of Sputnik International Broadcasting.
As well as targeting Putin's propaganda machine, the UK government also sanctioned prominent Russian Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev.
"Dubbed 'the butcher of Mariupol', Mizintsev is the Chief of the National Defence Command and Control Centre, where all Russian military operations are planned and controlled worldwide. Mizintsev is known for using reprehensible tactics, including shelling civilian centres in both Aleppo in 2015-16 and now in Mariupol - where atrocities are being perpetuated against Ukrainian people," the Foreign Office said.
UK Foreign Secretary said, "Putin's war on Ukraine is based on a torrent of lies. Britain has helped lead the world in exposing Kremlin disinformation, and this latest batch of sanctions hits the shameless propagandists who push out Putin's fake news and narratives."
"We will keep on going with more sanctions to ramp up the pressure on Russia and ensure Putin loses in Ukraine. Nothing and no one is off the table," she added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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