Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Sep 05, 2025

Britain sanctions Russian media, targeting disinformation

Britain sanctions Russian media, targeting disinformation

Britain announced sanctions on 14 more Russian entities and people on Thursday, including state media organisations behind RT and Sputnik and some senior figures, saying it was targeting those who push out President Vladimir Putin's "fake news and narratives".
Britain is acting in concert with its Western allies to try to cripple Russia's economy as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine, and has already sanctioned more than 1,000 individuals and businesses.

Among those sanctioned on Thursday were RT's managing director, Alexey Nikolov, Sergey Brilev, a prominent news anchor at the state-owned Rossiya Television and Radio network, and Sputnik Editor-in-Chief Anton Anisimov.

The government said it was also directly sanctioning state media organisations, including Kremlin funded TV-Novosti which owns RT, and Rossiya Segodnya, which controls news agency Sputnik.

"Putin’s war on Ukraine is based on a torrent of lies," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.

"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."

RT said the sanctions showed the imminent end of media freedom in Britain.

"We will continue to bring the news to audiences that wish to seek it, and prevent a media echo chamber from being orchestrated by blinkered officials hell-bent on conflating anything remotely Russian with wrong," Anna Belkina, RT's deputy editor in chief, told Reuters.

Brilev did not respond to requests for comment.

The Russian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Russian officials say RT - which had its UK broadcasting licence revoked earlier this month - is a way for Moscow to compete with the dominance of global media companies based in the United States and Britain that Moscow says offer a partial view of the world.

Moscow calls the invasion it launched on Feb. 24 a "special military operation" aimed at demilitarising and "denazifying" its neighbour - which Ukraine and the West have dismissed as a baseless pretext for war.

Britain's new sanctions also include seven individuals connected to Russian think tank the Strategic Culture Foundation, who were recently sanctioned by Australia for their role in spreading disinformation.

The government said it had also sanctioned Russia's Chief of the National Defence Command and Control Centre Mikhail Mizinitsev, who it said had been "responsible for planning and executing the siege and bombardment of Mariupol" - a southern Ukrainian port city that has been bombarded for weeks.

Britain has used sanctions to target Russia's access to the international financial system, as well as industries such as shipping and defence, and wealthy elites close to Putin.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
×