In Britain, Russian-linked Telegram channels offered cryptocurrency for attacks on mosques
28 February 22:52
A network of Russian-linked Telegram channels is calling on the British to attack mosques and Muslims in exchange for cryptocurrency.
This was reported by The Guardian, according to Komersant ukrainskyi.
British activists associate the calls in these channels with the appearance of xenophobic graffiti in early February on mosques and schools in east and south London. In addition, the groups distributed PDFs with bomb-making instructions and drawings of 3D-printed weapons, and posters with QR codes of these channels and related TikTok accounts appeared on British streets.
The data on Telegram channels and their apparent links to Russia were passed on by Hope Not Hate to the anti-terrorist police and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The police are currently investigating these incidents.
The Community Security Trust and Tell Mama, charitable organizations that monitor hate crimes against Jews and Muslims, also drew attention to such TG channels and their connection to Russia.
Among the evidence of the connection with Russia is the account of the administrator of one of the channels, who shared a screenshot from social network X, which showed that the interface was in Russian and had the GMT 3 time zone, the one used in Russia and Belarus.
Other evidence includes the use of Cyrillic in some posts, and two of the users who were most active in spreading messages to British chat groups also posted in Russian in pro-Putin and anti-Ukrainian Telegram chats.
For example, the administrator of one of the groups posted an anti-Ukrainian message on November 19 in which he used Russian-language abuse against the Ukrainian people, and a few weeks later tried to pay someone in Sheffield or Rotherham to perform an unnamed task in exchange for payment.
Members of the groups openly discuss “massive Quran burnings” and post videos of arson, acid attacks, and testing of homemade bombs.
After the graffiti appeared on mosques and other places, TG channels spread their images and offered cryptocurrency to group members in exchange for painting graffiti or even for attacking police cars. One message read: “People who create the most beautiful graffiti on mosques will receive a gift from our movement. 100 pounds in any cryptocurrency.”
In Britain, where the number of Islamophobic attacks has been on the rise – they increased by 73% in 2024 – there are fears that Russia is trying to foment social unrest in the country and other Western European countries through information campaigns aimed at exploiting ethnic and religious tensions.
Last week, a fake bomb was also left outside a mosque in north London.
Stella Creasy, the Labour MP whose Walthamstow constituency was targeted by the graffiti, called the allegations “credible” and that “they need to be taken seriously.”
Another MP, Kelvin Bailey, said: “These reports are consistent with Russia’s well-established strategy of attacking democracy by supporting far-right hate, and it is appalling that our community in Leyton and Wanstead may have already been affected.”
A spokesperson for the British Home Office said that “we will not allow the internet to be a haven for those who seek to sow division,” and that is why work is underway to introduce the Internet Safety Act, which will require social media to remove illegal content, including disinformation.
