Fake news commissar blamed UK for Skripal affair
DELIVERING his carefully crafted taunts with perfect manners and a chuckle, he is eerily reminiscent of a James Bond villain.
Russia’s ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, has been a key part of the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign against Britain during the escalating war of words over the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.
When Britain accused Russia of the attempted murder of former double agent Sergei and his daughter in Salisbury, he not only denied the claim but turned the tables by insinuating that British scientists could have been involved.
The suave 63-year-old diplomat suggested it was ‘highly likely’ that British scientists had a supply of the military-grade poison Novichok at their nearby Porton Down chemical-warfare facility because they had identified the cause of the poisoning so quickly.
But MPs were unimpressed, accusing Mr Yakovenko of ‘doublespeak’ and comparing him to ‘Comical Ali’, the former Iraqi propaganda chief, when they questioned him later in front of the Russia all-party parliamentary group.
Suggesting that ‘UK security services’ were behind the incident in March, Mr Yakovenko said Russia had been blamed but British authorities admitted they had no suspects.
The UK saw Russia as ‘enemy number one’, he claimed, adding: ‘The people don’t buy this kind of policy.’
But Tory MP Bob Seely told him: ‘People treat you like they treated Comical Ali – someone who is great entertainment value who relies on conspiracy theories.’
The legally trained deputy minister in Russia’s Foreign Affairs department, who has been ambassador in the UK since 2011, has also suggested Yulia was being manipulated by the British authorities after her release from hospital. But she replied she did not wish ‘to avail myself’ of the services of the Russian embassy. Mr Yakovenko later suggested that Britain had kidnapped her and her father.
Among his other ‘fake news’ triumphs was his embassy’s message to Russian tourists visiting Britain to be aware that British agents may plant ‘foreign objects’ in their luggage.
Its embassy told visitors: ‘Given the Russophobia in British society artificially imposed by the authorities, it is necessary to avoid conflict situations with the local population.’
A Whitehall source said at the time: ‘We’re frankly astonished – it is pure fake news.’