Vladimir Putin’s troll factory is targeting Boris Johnson’s social media accounts

Whitehall sources believe Kremlin cyberwarriors may even be based in the UK, copying tactics used by Islamic State conspiracy theorists and QAnon

Boris Johnson and Ben Wallace’s social media accounts are under attack by a new Russian troll factory set up by Vladimir Putin.

And Whitehall sources say some cyberwarriors may be stationed in Britain with their sights set on the Prime Minister and Defense Secretary.

They have copied the tactics of Islamic State conspiracy theorists and QAnon to make their posts more effective.

It also allows them to bypass countermeasures used by Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Telegram to block their messages.

Now UK authorities are asking media outlets to step up their controls to stop the accounts.

Secretary of State Liz Truss said: “We cannot allow the Kremlin and its shady troll farms to invade our online spaces with their lies about Putin’s illegal war.

“We will work closely with allies and media platforms to undermine Russian information operations.”

Culture Minister Nadine Dorries added: “These are insidious attempts by Putin and his propaganda machine to deceive the world about the brutality he is inflicting on the people of Ukraine.”

The new unit, called Cyber ​​Front Z, and based in St. Petersburg, recruits patriotic Russians and Kremlin sympathizers abroad to bomb politicians and comment on websites with lies about the Ukraine war.

The operation has suspected links to Putin’s cronie Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the founder of the Internet Research Agency’s bot farm that tried to sway the 2016 US presidential election.

The plan is to manipulate public opinion in favor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has spread its tentacles across Europe to India and South Africa.