The UK government will allocate funds worth more than $5.4 mn to the BBC World Service for engaging in information warfare against Russia, the UK Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. The statement said, “The UK will also provide an additional GBP 4.1 million for the BBC World Service as part of a cross-government effort to tackle disinformation in Russia and Ukraine, as well as new financial and policing support for the International Criminal Court’s investigation into war crimes,” the statement said.
The statement further added, “[The] emergency funding to support its Ukrainian and Russian language services in the region… has been provided by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and FCDO.”
Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, had earlier said, “The BBC… corporation in Russia is far from playing the last role in undermining domestic political stability and security in our country.”
On March 4, Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor blocked the websites of a number of media outlets, including the BBC Russian service. Russia had said that the reason behind the censorship was “purposeful placement on a systematic basis of information materials containing false information about the essence of the special military operation in Ukraine.”
