No evidence from UK on cyber attack allegations: Russian embassy

LONDON, Oct 26: In a statement given to the press, the Russian embassy to the United Kingdom said that it had not received any proof from the British officials to corroborate the claims of cyber attacks allegedly carried out by Russia against the UK infrastructure.

“The Embassy has not received any official evidence from the British side on either of these publications. We firmly believe that this clearly shows that there is nothing behind the allegations. For instance, on October 6, an article in the ‘Financial Times’ alleged that in 2015, Russia hacked the UK-based ‘Islam Channel’. Embassy diplomats visited the channel and even invited its editor-in-chief to attend the Ambassador’s press conference,” the Russian embassy stated on Friday.

“Upon asking a question regarding this publication, we received a clear statement that at the time nothing whatsoever was said about the Russian role in the attack. Moreover, it is worth noting that the issue was precisely raised now, as part of the widespread and coordinated campaign in the UK media aimed at the denigration of our country,” the statement added, according to a report in the TASS.

 

“In the meantime, more and more facts appear to confirm the cyber attack by the British secret services on a Belgian telecom company ‘Belgacom’ aimed at intercepting the communications of EU officials, as well as Brussels-based diplomats. This story was widely covered by the Belgian media, yet the UK is clearly trying to deny it,” the Russian diplomats pointed out.

“It is again worth mentioning that in an attempt to evade awkward questions, the British authorities cite ‘national security reasons’,” they said.

“This brings us to the conclusion that Belgium is unlikely to receive any specific answers from the UK authorities,” the Russian embassy said.

“At one stage the Foreign Office wrote to us stating that Britain has a cyber potential, but will only use it in strict accordance with the international law. It is highly likely that the case of Belgium is a brilliant example of this.”

 

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied Russia’s involvement in different cyber attacks, of which Western countries regularly accuse Moscow.  (UNI)