The Kremlin’s information warriors have shifted to new tactics and targets as the war in Ukraine has dragged on
Ever since its forces invaded two years ago, Russia has unleashed a torrent of disinformation to try to discredit Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and undermine the country’s support in the West. Photograph: Toms Kalnins/EPAA young man calling himself Mohamed al-Alawi appeared in a YouTube video in August.
A n illustration of a reporter’s notebooks entangled in a web As the Ukraine war grinds on, the Kremlin has created increasingly complex fabrications online involving fake journalists to discredit Ukraine’s leader and undercut aid. Photograph: Devin Oktar Yalkin/New York Times The tale attributed to al-Alawi is not even the only baseless allegation that Zelenskiy had secretly purchased properties abroad using Western financial assistance. Other versions – each seemingly tailored for a specific geographic audience – have detailed a mansion in Vero Beach, Florida, and a retreat in Germany once used by Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda.
What links the narratives to Russia is not only the content disparaging Ukraine but also the networks that circulate them. They include news outlets and social media accounts that private and government researchers have linked to previous Kremlin campaigns. The video, though, showed what purported to be photographs of a purchase contract and of the villa itself, creating a veneer of authenticity for credulous viewers. The property is, in fact, part of a resort owned by Orascom Development, whose website highlights El Gouna’s “year-round sunshine, shimmering lagoons, sandy beaches and azure waters”.
Within days, reports about the villa appeared on X in French and Romanian, and in English on three different Reddit forums. The channel had been created the day before. One video showed a man identified as al-Alawi’s brother, Ahmed, answering questions from another man. The new episode spread as the first video had. A day later, an article about the death appeared on an obscure website created last year called El Mostaqbal, a name similar to but unrelated to the actual news organisation in Lebanon.
It also appeared on the website of the Middle East Monitor, or Memo, operated by a well-known non-profit organisation in London and financed by the government of Qatar. A journalist who once reported from Moscow for the Telegraph of London, Ben Aris, cited it at length on the platform, though, when challenged, he said he had just made note of the rumour. “I don’t have time to check all this stuff myself,” he wrote.
Then there was the case of a man calling himself Shahzad Nasir, whose profile on X identifies him as a journalist with Emirates 24/7, an English-language news outlet in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, though he has no apparent bylines on the site.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Russia-Ukraine war: Thousands of children to be evacuated from Belgorod due to Ukraine shellingBelgorod city and wider region is just over half an hour’s drive from the border with Ukraine
Read more »
Ukraine says Putin aims to rule Russia ‘forever’ after extending 24 years in powerTightly controlled vote denounced as a sham by western capitals and Kyiv, but praised by China
Read more »
Two people killed as Ukraine launched drone attacks on final day of presidential vote, says RussiaVladimir Putin wins election gaining six more years of power
Read more »
Ukraine claims 35 of 39 drones launched by Russia are downedPope Francis says Ukraine should have the courage to negotiate an end to war with Russia
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine war: Putin says Russian forces and ‘systems’ will be placed at Finnish borderRussian leader criticises ‘meaningless’ Nato accession by Finland and Sweden
Read more »