Mystery network of Twitter accounts switch from pro-Putin to pro-Corbyn messages

Bizarre:

Why is a strange network of Twitter accounts, usually the source of pro-Russian messages, now pumping out tweets about a very specific British election?

They number in the dozens and they are targeting the pro-Brexit UK Independence Party and in particular its leader, Paul Nuttall.

This odd collection of Twitter accounts is obsessive. They co-ordinate their messages. And they are also praising Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ahead of Thursday’s by-election in Stoke-on-Trent Central. There’s no evidence that they are connected to Labour or any other political party, however…

The accounts were putting out pro-Russia and anti-Ukraine memes … Several of the accounts put out such messages almost exclusively until early February, when they started to include the anti-UKIP and pro-Labour tweets. [BBC]

Given Corbyn’s views on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, perhaps it’s not a surprise that accounts supporting Putin should then also want to big up Corbyn.