BBC: Russian trolls attacked Western press

According to the BBC, we are talking about such publications as Mail Online, Express, Times and others. It is noted that the comments of the trolls were used by Russian-language publications as the basis for articles. This tactic has been gaining momentum since 2018 and has recently focused on the withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan.

An example is an article on the Mail Online website about the victory of the Taliban (a terrorist movement banned in Russia). More than 2.5 thousand comments appeared under this publication, but some, as researchers believe, were part of the Russian campaign. The Russian article was titled: "The British have compared the rise of the Taliban to power with the end of Western civilization".

Scientists reported that they found 242 materials related to Russia. Under them were published provocative pro-Russian or anti-Western comments. These comments were then picked up by the Russian media, which presented the material from a certain angle, citing the alleged opinion of the British. In addition to Russia, similar articles appeared in Bulgaria.

Such a campaign was made possible due to the fact that publishing sites have few opportunities to deal with those who create many accounts. "Russia has consistently denied its involvement in propaganda and disinformation operations", - the BBC notes.