It said the network was funded by the Kremlin to create and distribute disinformation, such as deepfakes and spoof news websites, across social media platforms in order to undermine democracy and weaken international support for Ukraine.
The SDA had also been tasked with inciting protests across Europe, but had struggled to gain traction online, with bots and fake sites only getting limited interaction, the U.K. Foreign Office said.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy branded Putin “so desperate to undermine European support for Ukraine he is now resorting to clumsy, ineffective efforts to try and stoke unrest.”
“We will not tolerate your lies and interference, and we are coming after you,” he added.
The Foreign Office said the U.K.’s measures would be followed by similar action by the United States, European Union, Canada, and Australia in the coming weeks.