BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Russia taunts British PM with cartoon frog tweet

  • Published
    10 January 2017
Share page
About sharing
BBC Trending
What's popular and why

It's an account known for trollish behaviour and prodding Russia's rivals.

Now it has poked the UK Prime Minister with a somewhat ambiguous message including a cartoon frog that has become a mascot for the far-right.

On Monday afternoon the Twitter account of the Russian Embassy in London sent the following message, external:

In today's papers: pundits call on Theresa May to disrupt possible Russia-US thaw. No trust in Britain's best friend and ally?Image source, @RussianEmbassy/Twitter

Tagged in the picture of cartoon frog Pepe were the Twitter accounts of Donald Trump, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, two BBC correspondents, the US embassy in London, the Financial Times world desk, and a number of Russia-focused think tanks.

The tweet seems to have been prompted by news reports and editorials about the meeting between Johnson and members of Trump's team.

It's unclear exactly what "in today's papers" the Russian account was referring to. When asked for clarification, the embassy press office declined to answer questions and instead told BBC Trending in an email: "We would be grateful if [the] BBC actually investigated who wants [the] UK to stand in the way of better US-Russia relations."

The embassy later released a statement, external with the headline "Russian embassy on the talk of impending official anti-Russian witch hunt in Britain".

The three-page statement touched on 150 years of history and diplomatic relations, and claimed the British government "is also widely suspected of and expected to brief the incoming US Administration against Russia."

The statement continued: "Why now? Is it, like in the US, to provide grounds for a rerun of the June referendum, now assumed to be tainted by 'Russian influence'? Or is it to help save the status quo in Europe, under siege by the electorate demanding change?"

"We also think that it is plainly wrong for one UNSC (United Nations Security Council) permanent number to brief against another. And we challenge the mainstream British media to publish this comment," the statement concluded, external.

line

Follow us on Facebook

Like BBC Trending's Facebook page, external

line

Pepe the frog began as an innocuous slacker character created by cartoonist Matt Furie.

During the US election campaign, he was transformed online into a sort of mascot for the alt-right - a disparate group of far-right Trump supporters which includes a significant strain of white nationalism.

In August, Trump retweeted a picture of himself as Pepe.

Meme portraying Donald Trump as Pepe the frogImage source, Twitter

The anti-bigotry Anti-Defamation League later added Pepe to its database of hate symbols, and following the election, Trump disavowed the support of the alt-right.

However Furie and the ADL both believe Pepe is not beyond redemption. They have co-operated on a project, external to create and share positive images of the frog in an "attempt to rehabilitate him and move his image out of the realm of hate speech".

It's not clear why Russia's embassy in London has now co-opted Pepe for a tweet commenting about British concerns about Donald Trump's relationship with Moscow. But it's a diplomatic Twitter account with a reputation for poking world leaders. In December, after the US expelled 35 Russian diplomats in response to allegations of election interference, it mocked President Obama with a picture of a "lame duck":

Russian Embassy tweets: President Obama expels 35 🇷ussian diplomats in Cold War deja vu. As everybody, incl american people, will be glad to see the last of this hapless Adm.Image source, @RussianEmbassy/Twitter

The account mixes its trolly messages with more conventional diplomatic communications. Later on Monday, it tweeted a message, external about a British exhibition of a Russian artist's drawings of the siege of Leningrad in World War Two.

Blog by Mike Wendling, external

Next story: The straight A student who dropped out of university

Billy WillsonImage source, Billy Willson

Billy Willson received a 4.0 grade point average, the equivalent to straight As, for his first semester at Kansas State University. He decided that it would also be his last.READ MORE

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external, and find us on Facebook, external. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

Top stories

  • Play: Cooler Than Me?

    • Attribution
      Weather
    • Published
      2 hours ago
  • BBC News app

    • Published
      30 April

More to explore

  • I ordered drug-laced vapes on Snapchat. It was as easy as picking up pizza

    Two men in the front seat of a car. The man in the passenger seat is holding four small black bottles in his hands. A fistful of £20 notes held by someone at the passenger side window can just be seen to the right of the image. The man holding the bottles is in a black gilet and grey long-sleeved top and has curly dark hair and a moustache and beard. The driver has dark hair. A house can be seen in the background and an orange campervan.
  • Why the world is watching RFK's fight with US health agency

    Robert F Kennedy Jr stands behind a chair, pushed up to a wide, wooden table. He is wearing a smart, tailored, dark suit. He is flanked by other similarly dressed men. On the table is a sign with his name on it, some plastic bottles and a white disposable drinks cup.
  • Humble & sweet, but a lion - the story of the first female £1m player

    • Attribution
      Sport
    Olivia Smith
  • Russia targets WhatsApp and pushes new 'super-app' as internet blackouts grow

    Photograph showing a woman looking at her phone as she walks across a bridge in central Moscow - with the Russian Foreign Ministry building in the background
  • How I fell for jailed amputee surgeon's sepsis lie

    Neil Hopper is sitting in a chair wearing blue scrubs and glasses with his prosthetic limbs on show. The prosthetic limbs have a Welsh dragon pattern and are white, red and green. He is smiling at the camera.
  • The sunscreen scandal shocking Australia

    Two women wipe sunscreen on the backs of two men on a beach. The men are wearing swimming shorts while the women are in shorts ad in one case a bikini top and the other a sleeveless white top
  • I filmed what it takes to make a family meal in Gaza

    A close up picture of Mosab appearing to show him carrying a bag
  • Who's in Keir Starmer's new cabinet?

    Graphic showing David Lammy, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves
  • Angela Rayner: Labour's working-class warrior who fell from power

    Angela Rayner
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    The sunscreen scandal shocking Australia

  2. 2

    Rosenberg: What's behind Putin's uncompromising stance?

  3. 3

    'The great Rayner reshuffle' and 'Nightmare on Downing Street'

  4. 4

    How I fell for jailed amputee surgeon's sepsis lie

  5. 5

    Three British nationals among 16 killed in Lisbon crash

  6. 6

    In full: Rayner, PM and ethics adviser's letters on her resignation

  7. 7

    Faced with an almighty mess PM opts for big shake-up

  8. 8

    Fire breaks out at BBC's former HQ Television Centre

  9. 9

    Man dies after suspected shark attack in Sydney

  10. 10

    Do Reform's economic plans add up?

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • From rough diamonds to a highly polished scam

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Panorama
  • An explosive, tough action drama returns

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Dark Hearts
  • A revealing look into the life of boxer Tommy Fury

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Tommy: The Good. The Bad. The Fury
  • Star-studded, iconic, Oscar-winning mafia epic

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    The Godfather
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.