Information Warfare

According to the Kremlin, there seem to be wars wherever ‘the West’ puts down its feet. The real aggressor Russia presents itself as a peacemaker. Wars, especially those attributed to others, are a prominent feature of the Kremlin’s attempts to paint the world in its colours. The past week has seen some noteworthy developments with allegations that ‘the West’ is about to launch new wars against Russia. In the Kremlin’s projection ‘the West’ has become synonymous for everyone opposing the policies of Moscow. It helps to define what constitutes modern Russia: everything not Western. In today’s Russia, an old Soviet practice has risen from the grave: glorifying Stalin and promoting the stronger role of the state.

Russian state and pro-Kremlin outlets continue attempts to leverage the results of the European Parliament elections against key leaders and the European institutions. From 6-9 June, elections to the European Parliament took place across EU Member States in the largest European democratic exercise. These elections give a governing mandate to the European Parliament for the next five years and will lead to the appointment of the next president of the European Commission and the college of commissioners. In this series of articles, EUvsDISINFO shows examples of key tactics, techniques, and procedures employed by pro-Kremlin manipulators and disinformers targeting the European Parliament elections.

The Kremlin’s aging henchmen serve up casual nuclear bluffing, while pro-Kremlin actors aim to deplete and deceive fact-checkers and media organisations alike. The Kremlin’s tactics are, instead of evolving, turning more degenerate and insidious. From nuclear posturing and discrediting our democratic processes to the sprawling ‘Operation Overload’ disinformation campaign, pro-Kremlin disinformers keep sowing division and distrust… Firstly, nuclear threats attempt to sway the risk calculations of decision makers in Western capitals and impact the overall level of military support that Ukraine receives from Western countries. Secondly, they aim to feed fears among Western citizens in an attempt to decrease popular support for Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself against Moscow’s brutal invasion.

Russian state and pro-Kremlin outlets try to paint a negative picture of Europe and the European elections to avoid uncomfor-table comparisons with Russia’s own situation. From 6-9 June, the next elections to the European Parliament will take place across EU Member States in the largest European democratic exercise for hundreds of millions of people. These elections will give a mandate to the European Parliament for the next five years. In this series of articles, we show examples of key tactics, techniques, and proce-dures employed by pro-Kremlin manipulators and disinformers targeting the European Parliament elections. We examine attempts to smear leaders; sow distrust, doubt, and division; flood social media with falsehoods trying to turn the public against Ukraine; and project Russia’s own shortcomings onto the EU to distract from the reality of Putin’s Russia. We will also follow how the election results are portrayed by the pro-Kremlin disinformation ecosystem.

The EUvsDisinfo Database has logged more than 17 000 examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation since 2015. We take a closer look to see how the disinformation has degenerated and radicalised over the years. The EuvsDISINFO team has been building the EUvsDisinfo project since 2015 to better forecast, address, and respond to Russia’s ongoing disinformation campaigns affecting the European Union, its Member States, and countries in the shared neighbourhood. Since day one, a cornerstone of the project has been the EUvsDisinfo Database – the only public, searchable, open-source repository of its kind, tirelessly collecting and archiving examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation. This Database allows the public to follow how disinformation develops, travels, mutates and becomes interlinked with political dynamics and how it sometimes starts by itself or amplifies existing issues.

Amidst Lithuania’s 2024 presidential elections, a Belarus-linked information manipulation campaign aimed to undermine candi-dates and erode public trust in the democratic process. In the days leading up to Lithuania’s 2024 presidential elections, which were held in May 2024, a foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) operation developed. It turned out to have been initiated and coordinated by Belarus-related entities. initiated and coordinated by Belarus-related entities. The operation targeted some of the candidates. The presumed effect was possibly to discredit the candidates and to discourage Lithuanian citizens from voting by presenting the election as meaningless whilst also framing Lithuania as a puppet of the West.

Russian state and pro-Kremlin outlets try to flood information spaces with falsehoods to turn the public against Ukraine. rom 6-9 June, the next elections to the European Parliament will take place across EU Member States in the largest European democratic exercise for hundreds of millions of people. These elections will give a mandate to the European Parliament for the next five years. In this series of articles, we show examples of key tactics, techniques, and procedures employed by pro-Kremlin manipulators and disinformers targeting the European Parliament elections. We examine attempts to smear leaders; sow distrust, doubt, and division; flood social media with falsehoods; turn the public against Ukraine; and project Russia’s own shortcomings onto the EU to distract from the reality of Putin’s Russia. We will also follow how the election results are portrayed by the pro-Kremlin disinformation ecosystem. Stay tuned!

Kremlin’s disinformation outlets drum up a siege mentality in Russia, spread false fears of a looming NATO invasion from Ukraine, accuse the West of stealing Russia’s frozen assets to fight ‘proxy’ wars, and meddle in Georgia to fuel contention around the passing of the ‘transparency law’. vThe Kremlin’s disinformation peddlers have long since tried to build the perception of Russia being allegedly under siege by malicious external forces, usually of Anglo-Saxon origins. This has been one of the red threads weaving through the Kremlin’s disinformation about Russia’s war against Ukraine. Incidentally, in a pendulum-like motion, as the support for Ukraine swells, so does the volume of the pro-Kremlin voices accusing the West of aggression against Russia and demonstra-tively drawing meaningless lines in the sand, based on thinly veiled threats of a nuclear holocaust.

In times of crisis, societies across the world have been historically susceptible to conspiracy theories. The Kremlin disinformation machine is gleefully aware of that fact and exploit it without hesitation. Most people are naturally suspicious. And that’s not a bad thing. In fact, our innate inclination to doubt and question everything we experience may well be one of the core reasons behind the survival and flourishing of our species since the dawn of time. However, with the overabundance of information now available, our inclination to suspicion and scepticism can also work to our disadvantage. How? It also makes us susceptible to conspiracy theories, and exposes our vulnerability to manipulation. Let’s have a look at how and why conspiracy theories work to manipulate our perception of reality.

Russian state and pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets try to foment discontent inside EU Member States, exploit existing political issues and erode the credibility of the EU system. From 6-9 June, the next elections to the European Parliament will take place across EU Member States in the largest European democratic exercise for hundreds of millions of people. These elections will give a mandate to the European Parliament for the next five years. In this series of articles, we show examples of key tactics, techniques, and procedures employed by pro-Kremlin manipulators and disinformers targeting the European Parliament elections.