to help them post as Brits on social media

Vladimir Putin is employing people to spread lies on the internet about Britain from 'troll factory' in St Petersburg, Russia

Russia is believed to have set up a propaganda factory were at least 400 people are employed to spread damaging lies about Britain on the internet.

The English-speaking internet trolls get around £600 a month to post comments on websites in the UK with claims to stir readers from ‘the 2014 Scottish Referendum was fixed’ to ‘Mr Cameron was never Mr Honesty’.

As the Mail Online previously reported in 2015 it was revealed Vladimir Putin had an army of professional trolls running thousands of fake Twitter and Facebook accounts to flood social media with pro-Russia propaganda.

Leaked documents revealed by The Sun now claim they are also posting comments on UK sites to promote Russia and slam the UK.

According to the documents the unit is run by the President’s former chef Evgeny Prigozhin who heads the Agency for Internet Studies in St Petersburg.

The news comes after the Royal Navy was put on red alert yesterday when it was revealed that Russia planned to sail a fleet of warships along the British coast as it makes it way to Syria and the fleet was expected to carry out practice bombing north of Scotland before potentially sailing down the English Channel.

Ex-White House aide David Frum said: ‘The Russians intensely dislike larger groupings like the UK.

The social media posts spread rumours in bid to stir hatred including claims Prime Minister David Cameron (left with Putin right) was a dishonest man

‘The historic mission of spies is to gather information — the more modern mission is to spread disinformation. The Russians have been very active on social media.’

It is believed that staff use multiple identities to appear to be writing like normal Brits.

Ex-worker Lyudmila Savchuk, 35, told The Sun: ‘You write things like: “Yesterday I went for a walk and the idea came to me how bad the situation is in Europe”.’

The trolls who use different accounts posing as Britain's also claimed the Scottish Independence vote was rigged

As Mail Online previously reported, the trolls spreading propaganda were working exhausting 12-hour shifts bombarding the internet with comments placing Putin in a more favourable light.

They work under strict condition which see them banned from talking and even forging friendships with one another.

One former worker at the Internet Research Centre - dubbed the Troll Factory - lifted the lid on how employees must write more than 130 online posts a shift or face the sack.

(L-R) Brazil's President Michel Temer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Africa's President Jacob Zuma pose for a group photo during the 8th BRICS summit 2016 in Goa, India, on Sunday

Marat Burkhard explained how the operation, based in modern building in St Petersburg, is opened 24 hours a day and employees often work in teams of three.

'One of us would be the 'villain,' the person who disagrees with the forum and criticizes the authorities, in order to bring a feeling of authenticity to what we're doing, he told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

'The other two enter into a debate with him -- "No, you're not right; everything here is totally correct."

'We create the illusion of actual activity on these forums.'

Mr Burkhard revealed how he and his fellow trolls got to work after a story broke about US President Barack Obama spitting his chewing gum out in India.

''You need to write 135 comments about this, and don't be shy about how you express yourself,' Mr Burkhard, reportedly said he was told.

''Write whatever you want, just stick the word Obama in there a lot and then cover it over with profanities."

One former worker revealed how they covered any stories they could on US Presidents Barack Obama (right)

On another occasion he was told to repeatedly post on websites that the majority of German's supported Putin and his policies and were unhappy with Merkel.

Inside the factory the trolls are not just targeting Russian sites but those around the world, including the UK.

The trolls are often given five key words which they must make sure each of their posts are littered with. He claimed workers faced sanctions from manager if they were missing from their comments.

The comments must make Putin appear in a more favourable light compared with his western counterparts

Mr Burkhard, who now works as a blogger, quit after two months slaving away at his keyboard.

'I decided I can't engage in absurd work,' he said, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

'To keep going didn't make any sense - it's all absurd.

He compared his time at the Troll factory to the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell's 1984.

'You work in the Ministry of Truth, which is the Ministry of Lies, and everyone kind of believes in this truth.'