Russia identifies 'North Korean'-style irregularities in Scottish independence vote

There may be hope yet for supporters of Scottish independence.

Thursday's referendum, which showed a strong majority voting to stay in Great Britain, did "not meet international standards," according to election observers. Indeed, members of the media expressed skepticism at the "North Korean"-style turnout level — a dubiously high 90 percent.

"Which way did the vote go, really?" one television host wondered.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Unfortunately for advocates of an independent Scotland, all these skeptics were Russians with ties to the Kremlin. Russian state media and the so-called observers have been casting the vote into question, partly to needle the West for its criticism of a hastily called referendum in Crimea that gave Moscow's invasion of the peninsula a veneer of legitimacy.

And with that, the Russian Bear officially completes its metamorphosis into the world's biggest troll.