The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on 18 September that recently leaked documents reveal Russia’s ongoing efforts to leverage global information instruments, particularly social media, to advance Moscow’s interests abroad.
According to the ISW, these campaigns demonstrate “the Kremlin’s commitment to leveraging its global information instruments to advance Moscow’s interests using social media.”
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, took action on 17 September by banning Russian state media outlet Russia Today (RT) and “other related entities” for what it termed “foreign interference activity.”
The US State Department has also responded to these alleged activities. On 13 September, it announced sanctions against entities and individuals connected with RT. The State Department accuses these targets of “engaging in information operations, covert influence, and military procurement efforts for the Kremlin by targeting states in Europe, Africa, and North and South America.”
An investigation by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Schemes project has shed light on the operations of the Russian “Social Design Agency” (SDA). Recently identified by the US Department of Justice as part of the Kremlin’s “Doppelganger” complex malign influence operations, this company has reportedly been involved in distributing fake official documents.
The Schemes project reports that these fabricated materials include “orders from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi.”
The SDA describes its efforts as aimed at “discredit[ing] the military-political leadership of Ukraine and demoralizing [ing] the [Ukrainian] Armed Forces.”
According to the report, the agency’s activities extend beyond Ukraine, creating “fake documents allegedly from European government entities, fake news stories allegedly from European outlets, and anti-Ukrainian memes that spread widely on social media.”
The ISW assessed that “Russia is continuing its efforts to develop capabilities to use information operations on social media platforms to trigger kinetic activity and conduct election interference, destabilization measures, and sanctions evasion schemes.”
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