This article is part of a series analyzing the various aspects of the suspected Russian intelligence operation. Our top post summarizes these findings.

The Russian operation consistently sought to fan divisions between, and within, Western countries. That was particularly apparent in its treatment of Ireland, especially Northern Ireland.

The operation used ostensibly Irish personas on Facebook to post divisive and inflammatory content. Between March 2018 and April 2019, the operation ran at least three false stories targeting Ireland and forged documents and social media posts to support its claims.

Real Minister, Fake Tweet

On March 22, 2018, an account that Facebook identified as belonging to the Russian operation posted a Medium article to at least 15 different news groups.

Some of the 15 times the ostensibly Irish account shared the same Medium article to Facebook groups. (Source: Facebook)

According to the article, then-British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson tweeted that the Real Irish Republican Army (Real IRA) terrorist group had helped in the attempted assassination of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England, two weeks before. As “evidence,” the article inserted a screenshot of the alleged tweet but claimed that it had been deleted within a few minutes, “which gives reason to believe that the information is sensitive and classified and thus must not be disclosed to the public until Scotland Yard completes its investigation.”

Screenshot of the Medium article, including the alleged tweet. (Source: Medium/archive)

A number of factors expose the alleged “tweet” as a forgery. First, Williamson was one of the United Kingdom’s top ministers at the time. He is followed on Twitter by high-profile journalists including Mark Urban (BBC Newsnight), Carole Cadwalladr (The Guardian), Stephen Castle (New York Times), Deborah Haynes (then of The Times), and Elizabeth Piper (Reuters). Yet not one mainstream outlet reported on the alleged tweet, and a Twitter search for “Gavin Williamson IRA” date-limited to March 2018 only showed four results, none relevant.

It is only necessary to look at the online firestorm provoked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweet on the “Prince of Whales” — deleted and corrected after just 24 minutes — to appreciate that such an explosive tweet by Williamson, if real, would have provoked at least some online attention. The lack of any mentions confirms that the alleged tweet never happened.

The second factor is the source account on Medium. Named “Edward McGrew,” it only ever posted the one article. It used an image of British actor and comedian Hugh Laurie, in his role as TV medic “Dr. House,” as its profile picture. This use of a single-shot account on Medium, with a stolen profile picture, was the standard operating practice for this Russian operation.