Foreign Secretary Raab Accuses Russia Of Meddling In UK's 2019 General Election

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Thursday that Russia almost certainly tried to interfere in the 2019 general election in the United Kingdom, adding that no extensive details could be provided due to the ongoing criminal investigation.

"The Government has concluded that it is almost certain that Russian actors sought to interfere in the 2019 General Election through the online amplification of illicitly acquired and leaked Government documents. Sensitive Government documents relating to the UK-US Free Trade Agreement were illicitly acquired before the 2019 General Election and disseminated online via the social media platform Reddit. When these gained no traction, further attempts were made to promote the illicitly acquired material online in the run up to the General Election. Whilst there is no evidence of a broad spectrum Russian campaign against the General Election, any attempt to interfere in our democratic processes is completely unacceptable. It is, and will always be, an absolute priority to protect our democracy and elections," Raab told the UK parliament, updating in on the probe into the leak of the US-UK free trade agreement documents ahead of the 2019 vote.

The foreign secretary expressed the belief it would be "inappropriate to say anything further" due to the ongoing criminal investigation.

The UK government reserves the right to respond, Raab stressed.