Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova speaks at a news briefing in Moscow, Russia, Oct. 12, 2017. (Russian Foreign Ministry photo)

MOSCOW, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Foreign organizations are behind a sudden increase in fake social network accounts of Russian diplomatic missions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Tuesday.

Many of Russian embassies, consulates and offices run social network accounts and suddenly fake accounts began to rapidly grow "like mushrooms after rain" spreading false information, Zakharova was quoted by TASS news agency as saying at the first Global Young Diplomats Forum in Russia's Sochi.

"We have discovered sources of funding for a number of fake accounts and even found those people engaged in their maintenance," she said, adding that foreign organizations, instead of individuals, were behind such accounts.

Zakharova said that the foreign ministry had to contact the headquarters of the social networks to apply for the removal of the accounts, but during that time they continued to "poison" the information space.