During a hearing in Washington on Russian interference in last year’s US presidential election, Senator Angus King said Scotland was also a Kremlin target.
As tensions continue to simmer between the two former Cold War foes, Senator King alleged Russia has intervened in elections across Europe and now has its sights on Scotland.
He told the Senate Intelligence Committee: “We know the Russians were involved in the French election. We know that they were involved in the German elections. We are now learning they were involved in the separation of Spain.
“And my understanding is they’ve set up shop in Scotland which is talking about an independence vote from Great Britain. This is a sophisticated worldwide strategy. It hasn’t stopped and it won’t stop.”
Speaking ahead of the hearing, he said: “The Russians egregiously meddled in our democracy in 2016, they’re still doing it, and they’re going to do it again. And they’re set up in Spain now and they’re setting up in Scotland.
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“They have discovered a way to turn the strengths of our country and the West against ourselves.
“I call it geopolitical jiu jitsu, where they’re taking advantage of our free press and our open society and driving divisions.”
Last night a senior MP demanded Facebook answer whether the Kremlin was using the social media site to encourage another independence referendum in Scotland.
Damian Collins, the chairman of the digital, culture, media and sport committee, said he would tackle the company as part of an investigation into the impact of fake news on UK politics.
He said: “We are interested in any political activity on Facebook in the UK which has been driven by Russian backed organisations.
“We will certainly be asking Facebook about this as part of our inquiry into the power of fake news to disrupt our democracy.”
The stark warning comes as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told MPs there was “no evidence” of Russian interference in elections of referendums in Britain so far.
He told the Foreign Affairs select committee: “I haven’t seen any evidence of that.” Told that he seemed uncertain after giving a slow response, he added: “No, I haven’t seen it. Not a sausage … nyet, nyet, nyet.”
When pressed on whether Russia had looked to play a role in British politics, he said: “I don’t know about sought to play, but as far as I know they have played no role.”
Earlier this year, former British ambassador to Russia Sir Andrew Wood warned that the Kremlin may seek to interfere in a future Scottish independence referendum.
Sir Andrew said Russia would seek to break up the United Kingdom and this presents a “widespread set of risks” for its democracy.
Russia has repeatedly denied meddling in foreign elections.