Infoguerre

Pro-Kremlin information manipulators push distorted versions of reality and attempt to capitalise on momentum with fabrications. This week’s Disinfo Review takes yet another deep dive into the distorted world of the pro-Kremlin information manipulation ecosystem. We explore not only how Russian propagandists sought to capitalize on the controversy surrounding Yaroslav Hunka, where the Canadian parliament unknowingly applauded a former Waffen SS soldier, but also delve into the Kremlin’s longstanding tactics of distorting and misrepresen-ting factual reporting. Facts will not get in the way of pro-Kremlin propaganda. […]

While Russia asserts that it is uniquely positioned to provide security to African nations in need, the reality paints a starkly different picture. Over the past five years, Russia has cultivated a disinformation eco-system, where fabricated and unverified information often eclipses factual reporting and independent journalism in a number of African countries. Beyond the realm of using information manipulation against the West, this insidious activity undermines trust in democratic institutions and raises significant security concerns for local populations. The motivations behind Russia’s use of FIMI targeting African countries are multi-layered. […]

n the UN, Lavrov tried to talk about anything other than Moscow’s role in its war against Ukraine while Moscow tried to blame US and European leaders for the events in Nagorno-Karabakh. Speaking to a half-empty hall, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made another attempt during the UN General Assembly in New York to derail the international focus by avoiding any mention of the obvious: Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Instead, Lavrov spent most of his time blaming the West for everything from creating an unjust world to waging a hybrid war on Russia. Simply exchange the words ‘West’, ‘US’, or ‘Ukraine’ with ‘Russia’, and vice versa. The result will give a more sober reflection of realities! […]

Pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets claim Russia wants peace, even as it continues to wage its brutal war against Ukraine. Blaming the West and falsely claiming the world is on Russia’s side reveal the Kremlin’s efforts to manipulate the peace narrative. In fact says EUvsDiSiNFO, we have seen this manipulative tactic to reverse the roles of the victim and the aggressor in other pro-Kremlin disinfor-mation cases. This time, the Kremlin deploys it to deny Ukraine’s legitimacy as the victim of aggression and dismiss its striving for peace. If the Kremlin were really interested in peace, it should be willing at least to engage in negotiations with Ukraine, the country that it has invaded repeatedly since 2014. […]

According to the Kremlin’s disinformation mouth-pieces, the big show in town this week, quite literally, was the visit of North Korean Supreme Leader (read: dictator) Kim Jong-Un to Russia. It was a welcome distraction from the 3-day-‘special military operation’ – turned-into-endless-existential-war for most pro-Kremlin outlets. As such, it enjoyed broad and detailed, if heavily disinformation-laden, coverage. Kremlin disinformation pundits balance between praising the relationship with the DPRK and appearing to be too needy of North Korean help, as Kim Jong-Un’s visit provided a welcome distraction from the Ukrainian counteroffensive and economic troubles in Russia. […]

In 2021 the Lukashenko regime introduced a new state holiday, “the Day of People’s Unity”, to be celebrated on the 17th of September. With all its propaganda, it has tried to gloss over the fact that the 17th of September is first and foremost remembered as the anniversary of the Soviet attack and invasion of Poland in 1939, which was planned in coordination with Nazi Germany following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed in August 1939. The Belarusian people – school children in particular – are constantly fed pro-USSR narratives and anti-western propaganda, with Poland portrayed as a real demon to bolster the “Day of People’s Unity”. Back to the USSR […]

In recent weeks EUvsDiSiNFO has picked up a new wave of attacks against European officials and institutions. This time, not all of it is coming from Russia, the Belarusian regime is in on it as well. Such incidents also serve as a timeless reminder of the fact that we cannot really trust our eyes only. When in slightest doubt, we should always check the source of our information. Impersonation is not new… It is a favoured technique among pro-Kremlin actors. Thanks to this new way of monitoring the threat landscape – focusing on manipulative behaviour in addition to disinformation narratives – we can now detect and expose this type of manipulative behaviour that the Kremlin and their allies are using to target Europeans on a regular basis. […]

With both Yandex and Google aiding [the Kremlin] in pursuing its hostile information policy, the majority of Russians see the world very different from what it is in reality. Lev Gershenzon, former Head of Yandex.News (2007–2012), is currently working at The True Story, a new censorship-free news aggregator. The True Story was launched on 22 August 2023 and blocked in Russia just three days later. Following the publication of his research paper by the German Council on Foreign Relations, he spoke to EUvs-DiSiNFO. […]

When objective reality refuses to bend to the Kremlin’s will, Kremlin propagandists attempt to substitute it with their illusions. In last week’s iteration of Disinfo Review, we covered the Kremlin information manipulation ecosystem’s habit of staying mum about topics that they do not have clear instructions on, or that they wish to stay away from the limelight. This week, though, it seems that the Kremlin disinformation peddlers have received a clearer set of instructions to follow. like true gamblers, Kremlin minions are hedging their bets. […]

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine made Kazakhstan realise its own identity… In an interview with EUvsDiSiNFO, Vyacheslav Abramov says « if you speak only Russian, you will be a target for disinformation and propaganda. If you speak Kazakh and Russian, you will start questioning some messages you see in Russian. If you also speak English, you will start questioning more and more, so you will be able to think more critically about the information that you are getting. Unfortunately, many Kazakh media outlets were influenced by Russian media before the war. For many of them Russian media were the main source of information and Russian content was just translated into Kazakh.» […]