Feb 20, 2024 23:00:00

Document reveals Russia is running a disinformation campaign to undermine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy

Russia has been carrying out a wide range of cyberattacks against Ukraine, along with military invasions. As part of this effort, they are known to be running a disinformation campaign aimed at undermining Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskiy .

Kremlin runs covert disinformation campaign to undermine Zelensky - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/16/russian-disinformation-zelensky-zaluzhny/

According to a report by the Washington Post, Russian President

Vladimir Putin 's administration has used social media to send messages to Russian political strategists about ``fake news that gives the impression that President Zelenskiy is ``hysterical and weak.'' He ordered them to spread the word.

A Washington Post investigation revealed that there were thousands of social media posts and hundreds of fake news articles created by Russia about the ``feud between President Zelenskiy and General of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zarzhny .'' It has become. These information targeting President Zelenskiy were disseminated throughout Ukraine and Europe with the aim of dividing and destabilizing Ukrainian society.

The main purpose of Russia's propaganda team against Ukraine is to 'lower the reputation of President Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian government, and key figures in the Ukrainian military command, spread the message to the Ukrainian people that they are working in a self-righteous manner, and create political chaos.' ``to increase the number of wars and conflicts, increase fear and insecurity, and increase losses in war.'' In Russia, meetings are held almost weekly to discuss the progress of the campaign, with political strategists involved in the campaign highlighting the most widely read posts on Ukrainian social media and assessing the credibility of President Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian military leadership. We conducted a public opinion poll regarding.

According to

presentation materials from a conference by the Propaganda Team (PDF file) obtained by the Washington Post, a Facebook post by Russia claiming that 'families of fallen soldiers received no aid from the state' received 2 million copies. It has been viewed more than once. Another Russian post claimed that 'the Ukrainian government will force us to fight until the last man standing.'

By early March 2023, dozens of political strategists commissioned by the Russian government were posting more than 1,300 texts and 37,000 comments on Ukrainian social media every week. Records show that these political strategists earned an income of 60,000 rubles (about 97,000 yen) a month by posting 100 comments per day.

However, the Russian campaign has had poor results, with opinion polls showing that Ukrainian society has become more cohesive since the Russian invasion. In fact, between February and June 2023, Ukrainians' confidence in President Zelenskiy reached 68% to 73.3%, and one Moscow official said, ``We are trying to weaken President Zelenskiy and lead to divisions in Ukrainian society.'' ``It seems like he has an image that cannot be tarnished, like a world-famous star.''

However, on February 8, 2024,

General Zarzhny was replaced by President Zelenskiy , making it unclear whether military and financial support from the United States will continue. As a result, the Ukrainian government seems to have growing concerns that Russian propaganda activities will begin to undermine the unity and morale of the Ukrainian people.

In 2022, Meta, which operates Facebook, said it was 'monitoring and blocking accounts, pages, and websites run by Russian disinformation campaigns. These campaigns are quickly detected and disabled by our security teams.' However, Russia is building a ``Telegram network that combines X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram'' as the most effective way to penetrate the Ukrainian media space. , is spreading false information on social media such as ``President Zelenskiy is clinging to his position and democracy is being lost in Ukraine.''

In addition, in Russia, efforts are being made to create fake accounts for the French newspaper ' Le Monde ' and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on SNS and post content that defames the Ukrainian government. These efforts are called 'doppelgängers' within the European Union, and a fake account for German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has also been created and used to smear Ukraine.

In response to this, the EU said that as part of Russia's 'hybrid campaign against the EU and EU member states,' Russia was 'involved in creating fake web pages and social media accounts to steal the identity of state media and government websites.' has imposed sanctions on Russia's State Agency for Technology and Social Design, its director Ilya Gambashidze, and others. In addition, Mr. Gambashidze was wanted by the US State Department in November 2023 for being ``involved in the Russian government's efforts to spread disinformation in Latin America.''

Russia is said to be willing to pay up to $39,000 (approximately 5.8 million yen) to have major media outlets in Western countries publish pro-Russian commentary. The Russian government's text stated, ``There are people all over the world who can provide persuasive commentary, including columnists, leaders of public opinion, former diplomats, officials, and university professors.'' A Russian government political strategist also said, ``These efforts are very expensive, but if you find the right time and use them, they work.''

A European security official said, ``The Russian government looks for weaknesses. To undermine the morale of the people, they will use whatever is lying at their feet, including those of their own making.''