Parody billboards put up around London celebrating Putin’s ‘role’ in Brexit

The group is now fundraising to rent the motion billboard at Waterloo station

A series of billboards have been put up across London “celebrating” the “Brexit collaboration” between Russia and the UK. Anonymous activist group 'Proud Bear' has taken responsibility for the posters, with the satirists claiming to be a "collective of Russia GRU officers". On its website, the group said they hoped the campaign will "persuade the British public to focus on future trade opportunities afforded by Brexit, as opposed to recent Russophobic disinformation efforts by western governments". “The group hopes to counter recent unwarranted negative publicity about the GRU by putting up advertisements highlighting their part in Britain’s imminent liberation from the EU,” they added. https://twitter.com/Pr0ud_Bear/status/1060494643190812675 It has previously been claimed that Russia used Twitter bots and trolls "to disrupt" the Brexit vote, with it thought that thousands of Russian accounts tweeted pro-Brexit messages in the build up to the 2016 EU Referendum. A billboard in Stoke Newington, north London shows a picture of a winking Vladimir Putin waving a Russian flag, with the caption: “Let’s celebrate a red, white and blue Brexit.” Another poster in Bethnal Green, east London shows former foreign secretary Boris Johnson waving Russian flags, with the text: “Thank you! Boris." After being contacted by JOE.co.uk, a spokesperson for the group said in a statement that volunteers engaged in the project were "concerned about the state and health of our democracy", adding that there was a need for a "'Muller-style' investigation into the EU Referendum". The group is now fundraising £55,000 to rent the motion billboard at Waterloo station for a two-week period. You can donate here.