MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2021) Russia is still waiting for the United Kingdom's official reaction to the leak of Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) papers giving out a massive media manipulation campaign, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.
The leaked papers were disseminated last week by non-Russian investigative news portals. According to them, the FCO paid Reuters, the BBC and Bellingcat, among other media brands, for their involvement in covert information campaigns purportedly aimed at undermining the Russian government domestically and regionally.
"There is a lot of materials, we are examining them now. The lack of reaction from the British is certainly surprising, given their propensity to ponder problems of other countries and endlessly teach others how to live. We would want, frankly speaking, at least some sort of initial reaction from the UK side," Zakharova said at a briefing.
From the amount of FCO leaks it has already reviewed, Moscow concluded that the current papers are "only the tip of an iceberg," the spokeswoman said.
"We expect a reaction. Its absence will point to the falsehood of the image created by the United Kingdom of itself as of a state that respects journalism and freedom of expression, claiming that it fights fake news, mud slinging, meddling in sovereign affairs of other states, and so on," Zakharova said.
When first commenting on the FCO leaks last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that there were Russian media agencies, such as Meduza and MediaZona, among those bribed by the UK government to promote the target agenda among Russian social media users.
