Welcome to the 21st century. Both sides in every political operation now employ troll armies. The biggest are Obama/democrats,Gy movement, China, Russia, the PA.,ISIS, Al-Qaeda , Iran, and the list goes on.
There are many resident trolls right on freepers that earn money posting here.
The article is from the BBC, not some unknown blogger troll.
We have a group here who regularly defend KGB Putin. He can do no wrong in their eyes. They show up on most of these threads.