What started as social media trolls from Russia developed into extensive influence campaigns and disinformation operations aimed against Western democracies. According to media analysts, the Kremlin has intensified propaganda and influence campaigns overseas.
September was a busy month for Kremlin disinformation actors
September proved to be a busy month for the actors of Kremlin disinformation campaigns and for those responsible for thwarting Russian influence activities. According to research by Foreign Policy, news coverage of a series of U.S. government acts demonstrated Russia was utilizing front media sites, social media influencers, legitimate media outlets acting as covert agents, and bogus domains and personalities to alter public debate globally.
Russia’s continued focus on meddling in US politics and undermining trust in American elections is evident in the barrage of announcements from the US Justice and State Departments, as well as in the public hearing featuring Big Tech executives hosted by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Pro-Russian and Russian actors have long been involved in covert influence operations targeting electoral processes in the US and the EU. A single platform or government agency acting alone cannot effectively counter foreign influence, and bots and trolls on social media are only one aspect of the problem, as highlighted by the State Department study and the committee hearing.
In September, the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed details about Russia’s extensive disinformation campaign aimed at influencing Western public opinion.
Also, the US Department of Homeland Security stated in a study released on October 2 that Russia, Iran, and China represent the biggest threats to the country’s democratic institutions and vital infrastructure, especially in light of the impending presidential election.
Russia’s Doppelganger campaign tactics
The goal of this disinformation effort, dubbed “Doppelganger,” was to disseminate pro-Russian narratives and erode Western support for Ukraine by fabricating official news channels and spreading anti-Ukraine disinformation.
This report presents the main conclusions from court files provided by the FBI in the United States’ eastern district of Pennsylvania, where the case pertaining to this extensive Russian disinformation effort is being investigated.
The investigation claims that Russia established a network of at least 60 phony news websites that imitated numerous well-known Western media sources, including Reuters, Fox News, Bild, Der Spiegel, and The Washington Post.
The research’s main conclusion is that the Kremlin-led effort sought to disseminate narratives that were favorable to the Kremlin and erode Western support for Ukraine. The study revealed that Russian government officials and tech corporations carried out an operation targeting the US, many European nations, Mexico, and Israel.
Read also: How Russia pushed far-right and anti-Ukraine agenda during European Elections
The researchers also came to the conclusion that the employment of new technology pushed the Russian disinformation machine to evolve. The campaign concealed its origins using cutting-edge techniques including artificial intelligence, customized targeted advertising, and cryptocurrency payments.
Sergei Kirienko, the First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian presidential administration, was among the high-ranking Russian officials who masterminded the Doppelganger campaign, according to the FBI report. Entities under his control carried out the operation, which has been ongoing since at least May 2022 (a few months after Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine): ANO Dialogue; Structure National Technology (Structura); Social Design Agency (SDA).
Read also: Agency of Social Design disclosed as a tool of Russian disinformation machine
These organizations, deeply embedded in the Russian government machinery, focused their efforts on manipulating political campaigns, establishing botnets, fabricating fake websites, and assembling highly advanced information networks.
The testimony of the FBI agent demonstrated the strong connections that exist between these groups and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, among other Russian government agencies. The important players in the operation, named in this report, are:
- Ilya Gambashidze: A political technologist and Structura co-founder, Gambashidze was essential to the development and execution of the disinformation tactics. Investigators were able to retrieve his extensive notes, which offer an insight into the inner workings of the operation.
- Currently serving as Structure’s leader, Nikolai Tupikin collaborates with Gambashidze to advance Kremlin objectives. Because of their actions in misleading American citizens and advancing the objectives of the Russian government, Gambashidze and Tupikin are currently facing sanctions from the US.
- Sofia Zakharova led the campaign in Europe and Ukraine. Zakharova was an officer in the Russian Department for Information and Communication Technology Development. Her participation demonstrates the close connection between the disinformation apparatus and the Kremlin.
The Doppelganger campaign produced more than sixty phony websites that mimicked the layout and content of well-known Western media sites, such as Fox News and The Washington Post. These phony websites disseminated a combination of factual news and expertly constructed lies in an effort to sway public perception.
One of the main focuses of the operation was imitating the style, branding, and organization of trustworthy news websites. Moreover, the operation inserted real links to create the impression of authenticity. The phony websites carried articles with real journalists’ bylines and images under their names.
Then, they used social media bots to spread links to the fake posts. The Russian agents observed responses in real time and targeted specific demographics.
Doppelganger campaign goals
The Doppelganger campaign went much beyond mere news manipulation, as evidenced by the court filings. Multiple goals and objectives were part of the operation, according to court documents:
- Influence the outcome of US elections;
- Force Western nations to reduce support for Ukraine;
- Demonize the current Ukrainian government;
- Incite hostilities between nations;
- Sway public opinion and impact elections overseas;
- Utilize politicians sympathetic to the Kremlin to advocate for policies.
The Doppelganger campaign used customized approaches for various areas, populations, and audiences with tailored narratives.
The main objective with regard to Ukraine was to damage the reputation of its current government and weaken international support for Ukraine. The campaign aimed to justify Russian aggression and isolate Ukraine on the international scene by creating doubt and disseminating false information.
In terms of the US, the operation targeted particular racial and religious populations, especially the Mexican and Jewish communities, with an emphasis on the 2024 presidential election. This strategy sought to manipulate voter sentiment by taking advantage of current societal divides.
Pro-Russia narratives, aimed at stoking division and undermining the European Union’s united front against Russian aggression, also targeted Europe. The United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy received special treatment, according to the report.
The operatives modified their strategies as IT corporations and Western agencies became aware of the Doppelganger effort. According to an internal SDA paper titled “Countermeasures by Foreign Agencies and Organizations,” Western agencies are becoming increasingly concerned about how well the Russian campaign is working in their own nations.
The domain rental structure of the Doppelganger campaign was one of its most sophisticated technical elements. The FBI discovered an intricate scheme involving the rental of domain names from US firms such as Namecheap and GoDaddy.
Subsequent analysis showed that the majority of activities took place within Moscow business hours. Additionally, the cybersecurity firm Spur had previously connected related IP addresses to illicit activity. The FBI agent contended that this case involved state-level help because of the high level of technological intricacy.
The Doppelganger campaign exposes advanced techniques for fabricating and spreading fake information along with specific strategies for various geographic and demographic groups.
How to strengthen the fight against Kremlin disinformation campaigns
The campaign demonstrates how the actions of the Kremlin’s Doppelganger campaign are consistent with its larger influence operations directed at Western democracies. As analysts identify and expose these Kremlin-led operations and the governments penalize their key actors, they may temporarily weaken Russia’s disinformation operations and force it to modify its tactics, but it won’t completely stop them.
Moscow’s tactics become more sophisticated. Russia is using “real U.S. voices” on major social media sites to “launder” propaganda and controversial stories that it wants to influence American audiences during the election campaign, the Washington Post reported in September. In our research on the media landscape in Germany, France, Switzerland, and Czechia we revealed pro-Russian websites that share RT content and disseminated pro-Kremlin narratives to local audiences.
Russia Today (RT), the state-controlled Russian multilingual news and media outlet, has faced sanctions across the EU and the US due to its role in spreading Kremlin-backed propaganda and supporting Putin’s war in Ukraine. Despite this, RT has adopted strategies to clone its websites and migrate to new domains to evade these restrictions and continue disseminating disinformation globally.
Officials from the United States’ intelligence agencies stated that Russia’s secret efforts to change the outcome of the 2024 presidential election are smarter than in previous years and pose the most serious foreign threat during the current election cycle.
However, the efforts in tracking and revealing the Kremlin’s information warfare can be enhanced with more rapid actions from Western decision-makers involving sanctions and wide public awareness campaigns about the disinformation risks emanating from Russia, enabling them to formulate a more comprehensive and effective response.
