Russia has set up an "information warfare" force which will fuel the West's concerns about what it sees as Moscow-sponsored "fake news".

Military planners in Russia see spreading propaganda as a vital part of modern warfare and the country has come under mounting scrutiny after US intelligence agencies accused the Kremlin of an "influence operation" to help Donald Trump win the presidential election.

Intelligence agencies in Europe have also said Moscow is looking to destabilise governments and influence elections in Europe with cyberattacks and fake news, which it has denied.

In an address to the State Duma, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said the new troops tasked with carrying out information warfare are more effective than those used before.

"Propaganda must be smart, competent and effective," the Russian news agency TASS quoted him as saying.


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It is not clear what form the new force takes, how it has been trained or why those working for it will be better than their predecessors.

Vladimir Shamanov, the head of the State Duma defence committee, was quoted by Interfax news agency saying that the information operations troops have been "mainly created for the protection of the interests of national defence and for counter-activities in the information sphere".

He added: "Essentially the information conflict is a component of general conflict. Deriving from that, Russia has made an effort to form structures that are engaged in this matter."

Last week, General Petr Pavel, a Czech who heads NATO's military committee, said that Russia was behind a false report of a rape by German soldiers in Lithuania, warning that Europe should expect more such "fake news".

Estonia's foreign minister Sven Mikser said he also expected more "hostile propaganda" from Russia due to its anger over the build-up of NATO forces in the Baltic republic near to its western borders.