Russian-Linked News Outlet Fuels Violent Anti-Immigrant Riots Across British Cities

Russian propaganda fake website is suspected of fueling anti-immigration riots in Great Britain by spreading false information, The Telegraph reported.

At the end of July, following a stabbing at a dance class in Southport, where 3 girls were killed and 11 injured, a 17-year-old boy has been arrested on charges of murder and attempted murder. 

The fake website Channel3 Now, masquerading as an American intelligence agency, made up the name of the killer, 17-year-old Muslim refugee Ali Al-Shakati.

The news was shared by thousands of other accounts related to Russia, including Russian state media. The information was picked up by far-right activists, in particular, from the anti-immigrant English Defense League, which played an important role in inciting the riots.

The riots have spread across cities nationwide, including Liverpool, Bristol, and Manchester on Saturday. The unrest led to dozens of arrests, with shops and businesses being vandalized and looted, and several police officers sustaining injuries.

Police later said the name was fictitious. The real suspect is Axel Rudakubana, who was born in the UK to parents who emigrated from Rwanda, a nation that is more than 90% Christian.

It has also been revealed that the Channel3 Now YouTube channel, which was launched in Izhevsk in 2012, was rebranded in 2019 and began producing content focused on Pakistan.

Professor Stephen Hutchings from the University of Manchester stated that this is merely one example among hundreds of daily stories with a pro-Russian or anti-Western bias, intended to destabilize society in Britain.