Moldovan authorities have revealed a scheme led by a pro-Russian oligarch aimed at influencing upcoming elections by paying ordinary citizens to vote against closer ties with the West.
Russian state-run media have claimed that the convict Alexander Permyakov has both Ukrainian and Russian citizenship and further alleged that he acted on behalf of Kyiv — with the support of the U.S.
The Kremlin is facing a backlash from Russian military bloggers outraged at reports of specialist troops being sent to storm Ukrainian positions in order to maintain pressure on the front lines. Facing a shortage of manpower and a pressing need to maintain the grinding advances in eastern Ukraine, Russia has
Tech companies' recent efforts to crack down on Russian propaganda on social media are unlikely to hamper Moscow’s campaign to undermine support for Ukraine, especially as major platforms, like X and Telegram, fail to take action. Tech giant Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, banned Russian state-run
CBS News previously debunked the story, but Microsoft's report was the first indication that Russia was the source of the false news. The story was initially spread by a website disguised as a local San Francisco media outlet and was replete with an embedded video that Microsoft said used a paid actor.
Editor’s note: This story contains graphic descriptions. Several months after Russian Sergei Kozlov, an assault fighter of the infamous Wagner Group, returned home from the war in Ukraine, he violently killed his 18-year-old partner Daria, who was pregnant with his child. She was beaten to death, suffering a traumatic
U.S. tech giant Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, announced a global ban on Russian state-run media outlets like RT and Rossiya Segodnya, citing their involvement in covert influence operations.
The Kyiv Independent contacted Ukraine's military intelligence for confirmation of who was behind the attack. It replied with a smiling face with sunglasses emoji.
"(RT) is also engaged in information operations, covert influence, and military procurement. These operations are targeting countries around the world, including in Europe, Africa, and North and South America," the State Department said.
U.S. government legal actions targeting a network of Russian influence last week have exposed shortcomings in the country's laws designed to tackle the malign influence of foreign agents, experts told the Kyiv Independent. Treasury sanctions targeted leaders of Russian state-owned news outlet RT, formerly Russia Today, a media organization
According to U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, there is “no doubt” the Kremlin is using propaganda and disinformation to “sow discord” among the U.S. population.
Russian state media channel RT is attempting to push U.S. viewers toward voting for Donald Trump in the presidential election through a network of Western media personalities, Reuters reported on Sept. 6, citing a senior U.S. intelligence official.
"It is irresponsible to allow the Toronto International Film Festival, one of the most reputable world film stages, to be used to whitewash the responsibility of Russian soldiers committing war crimes in Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion."
Dimitri Simes, once an adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump, works as a presenter for Channel One Russia, a state-run television station sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in May 2022.
The U.S. State, Justice, and Treasury departments have acted jointly against the Kremlin's propaganda machine, seizing web domains, issuing indictments, and imposing visa restrictions against participants in Russia's covert election interference campaign.
According to the preliminary details about the show, named "Goodbye," an undercover "President Joe Biden" moves to Russia to investigate why Western sanctions are unsuccessful. After losing his documents, Biden is forced to become an English teacher to save up money and eventually return to the U.S.
The investigation aims to mitigate the Kremlin's interference in the November presidential election.
The goal of Russia's new operations is to convince people who left Ukraine because of the war not to return, according to Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR).
Pro-Kremlin sites, masquerading as American news outlets, spread fakes about Democrats who allegedly planned to kill Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Margarita Simonyan, one of Russia's foremost propagandists, has gone AWOL. "She's vanished from view," Julia Davis, creator of the Russian Media Monitor, told the Kyiv Independent, adding: "She's barely posting on social media and she's not appearing on state TV." "That's probably because they haven't come up with a good
Anton Krasovsky was convicted for his calls to "burn and drown Ukrainian children" on air on one of his shows on the Russian state-run channel RT, formerly known as Russia Today. He also said that Ukraine "should not exist at all."
Prominent Russian propagandist and pro-Kremlin TV reporter Yevgeny Poddubny was severely injured during a drone attack on Russia's Kursk Oblast on Aug. 7, Russian state media agency Rossiya 24 claimed.
Svetlana Burceva was arrested in March after it was revealed that she wrote for the Russian state sponsored Balt News —an arm of the Kremlin-run RT news outlet.
"At this critical moment in history, it is imperative that we collectively take swift and robust action to strengthen the transatlantic relations through strategic communication about the E.U. in the U.S."
When asked whether Moscow seeks to boost a specific candidate, an official of the Office of the Director National Intelligence (ODNI) said that they have "have not observed a shift in Russia’s preferences for the presidential race from past elections, given the role the U.S. is playing with regard to Ukraine and broader policy toward Russia."
According to the Justice Department, the bot farm was organized by a Russian national who worked as the deputy editor-in-chief of RT in 2022, and expanded with funding from the Kremlin and collaboration with an official from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).
The BBC said that it was just one of many similar stories spread on fake "news" websites designed to look like legitimate U.S. newspapers.
There can be "no truce" with Ukrainians, Dmitry Rogozin said, because "any truce, let alone reconciliation, is certain death for our children and grandchildren."
The four outlets are Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, and Izvestiya.
According to the study, the chatbots responded with Russian propaganda 32% of the time, citing fake news sites as if they were credible sources.
Fake quotes appeared over photos of celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson and Elton John, calling to end aid to Ukraine and describing European collapse.
"Free movement of holders of Russian diplomatic and service passports, accredited in one host state, across the whole Schengen area is easing malign activities," the letter to EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
