MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. Claims made by the UK Foreign Office about alleged attempts by the Russian intelligence to derail the Tokyo Olympics before they were postponed until 2021 due to the pandemic are "pure nonsense," Chairman of the Russian State Duma’s (lower house of parliament) Committee for Foreign Affairs Leonid Slutsky told TASS on Monday.
"This is insane, this is pure nonsense. Such statements are "cynical and reckless," not Russia’s actions. New accusations serve as another step to discredit Russia in the spirit of Goebbels’ propaganda: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." This is what they are counting on," Slutsky said.
He noted that such statements once again help reach rock bottom in the relations between Moscow, London and Washington.
Accusations against Russia
The UK Foreign Office claims that Russian intelligence services tried to organize cyber attacks in order to derail the Tokyo Olympics before they were postponed until 2021 due to the pandemic, the statement by UK Foreign Office published on Monday reads.
"Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU, conducted cyber reconnaissance against officials and organisations at the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games due to take place in Tokyo this summer before they were postponed, the UK has revealed today," the statement reads. "The targets included the Games’ organisers, logistics services and sponsors. The attacks on the 2020 Summer Games are the latest in a campaign of Russian malicious cyber activity against the Olympic and Paralympic Games."
The UK also claimed that Russian hackers had also tried to disrupt the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea. The GRU’s cyber unit attempted to disguise itself as North Korean and Chinese hackers when it targeted the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Games, the UK Foreign Office stated.
The attacks were conducted by the GRU’s Main Centre for Special Technologies, also known by its field post number 74455, the UK government claimed.
On Monday, the US Department of Justice presented charges against six Russians in relation to these attacks. The UK Foreign Office confirmed that London and Washington had decided to present accusations against Russian intelligence services at the same time.
Moscow has repeatedly denied Western accusations of Russian cyber attacks.