Could Putin already be meddling with the British General Election? (Picture: Getty)
Russia could soon interfere with the General Election to weaken the UK’s support for Ukraine, it’s been warned.
Mark Warner, the Democratic leader of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has warned that Vladimir Putin’s meddling in the West could increase even more as voters head to the polls on July 4.
He said: ‘Clearly, Russia does not like the fact that the UK has been as stalwart as they have been in terms of defence on Ukraine… the chances are, as we saw in the past, this activity ramps up dramatically the closer it gets to the election.’
Pointing out politician Nigel Farage – who is friends with Donald Trump, who has been open about his hesitancy to help fund Ukraine – Mr Warner said he’s ‘not sure’ where Mr Farage stands on the issue, or if he will follow Mr Trump’s lead.
Asked about funding for Ukraine yesterday, Mr Farage said: ‘We would go on sending money to them but I think both sides need to be told that at some point wars either end in negotiation or catastrophe, and this one looks like going on for many, many, many years – and at an horrendous cost of life.
‘We can keep pumping money and keep it going, but whether Ukraine can really sustain that loss of troops is an open question.’
Mark Warner said meddling could increase (Picture: AP)
Mr Warner went on to warn that Russia is preparing to spread misinformation, using ‘deep fake’ tools ahead of the election.
Though US intelligence hasn’t seen meddling from Russia in the UK elections so far, he said the chances increase the closer we get to the election.
He added: ‘It clearly meets Putin’s plans if he can lessen the British or the Americans’ resolve for supporting Ukraine, he can save some money on his tanks, guns, ships and planes if he can diminish support.’
It appears the Conservatives have taken note of warning of meddling, posting an odd edited photo of Chinese, Russian and North Korean officials looking over Keir Starmer today.
Mr Trump has already threatened to stop US funding for Ukraine’s defence if he’s re-elected, and ‘end the war in 24 hours’.
Statements from political candidates from both the US and UK have thrown the future of Ukraine’s battle against Russia into the air.
Mr Trump said of his plan to end the war: ‘‘I would tell Zelensky: No more. You got to make a deal. I would tell Putin: If you don’t make a deal, we’re going to give them a lot. We’re going to give them more than they ever got, if we have to.’
Candidate Nigel Farage has questioned funding for Ukraine (Picture: Getty)
But Ukraine’s national security advisor has already Russia of using artificial intelligence to spread disinformation about Western elections.
Oleksiy Danilov told The Times that Russian spies have developed an AI tool that is allowing Moscow to meddle in UK and US elections on an exponential scale – threatening democracy.
Artificial intelligence has allowed those online to create text, audio, photos, and videos to make it appear as though candidates are saying things they never actually said.
One terrifying instance of this happened in January when a deepfake video of Joe Biden urging Americans not to vote in November spread online.
36 million disinformation posts have been shared on social media by Russia, aiming to discredit senior Ukrainian officials, divide political and military unity and demoralise the army and public.
Fake statistics over casualties in the Russia-Ukrainian war have also been spread to sow distrust and war fatigue in Ukrainian citizens, Mr Danilov said.
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