On 18 June, the Argentine government publicly accused five Russian nationals residing in the country of being involved in a covert influence operation directed by Moscow. Officials claim the group was part of a broader strategy orchestrated by the Kremlin to sway public opinion abroad, La Nación reported.

Suspicious activities traced to Russian citizens linked to Moscow

Argentina’s Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni announced that the Secretariat of State Intelligence (SIDE) had uncovered a group of Russian citizens living in Argentina suspected of conducting activities in support of Russia’s geopolitical interests. He stated that their work involved close coordination with Argentine collaborators.

According to the report, these individuals belonged to an entity known as La Compañía, which he described as connected to the Russian government. He associated this group with Lakhta – the infamous Russian “troll factory,” a previously known operation reportedly led by the late oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in August 2023 after his failed mutiny against the Russian government.

Disinformation campaigns targeting Argentine public discourse

Adorni elaborated that the goal of La Compañía was to “form a group of people loyal to Russian interests” to implement disinformation and influence operations aimed at the Argentine state. The activities included producing and spreading online content, influencing local NGOs, conducting focus groups with Argentine citizens, and collecting political information deemed useful to Russia.

He named Lev Konstantinovich (Konstantinovich is a patronymic and hardly ever a last name. Other sources mention his surname as Andriashvili. – Ed.), a Russian citizen living in Argentina, as the individual in charge of financing the project and fostering ties with local collaborators. His wife, Irina Iakovenko, was also mentioned as part of the network.

Adorni did not clarify whether the identified individuals had been arrested or remained in Argentina at the time of the announcement.