Russian Allies Spread Anti-Ukraine Information To Americans

In the wide world that exists outside the right-ish fever swamps, there’s broad agreement that Russia is working very hard to spread propaganda, misinformation, and assorted lies in order to rouse opposition to the U.S. supplying aid to Ukraine.

That Russia is involved in such efforts in the U.S. is hardly new. Nor is how many in the political class seem eager to parrot Moscow’s line. 

What is new are the tools and sophistication of Russia’s effort to keep its willing mouthpieces supplied with talking points. As the Washington Post reported:

As the Kremlin spin doctors worked, they closely monitored opinion polling in the United States and a decline in support among Americans, especially Republicans, for Ukraine. They also conducted twice-monthly surveys with a mechanism they called “river sampling” — conducting internet polls through online advertising and social media networks such as Facebook and TikTok. The results, showing small declines in support for Ukraine, seem wholly unreliable but were passed along to the strategists’ Kremlin masters as measures of success.

Fake news articles alleging Zelensky’s corruption pushed out by Russian-linked websites during the congressional debates on assistance for Ukraine in the fall have resonated. One of the most successful claims was disseminated by DC Weekly — a respectable-seeming internet outlet, which disinformation researchers at Clemson University traced back to domains affiliated with a former American police officer, John Mark Dougan, who has reinvented himself as a pro-Russian journalist in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

Through DC Weekly, a fake news story alleging that Zelensky had bought two yachts with American aid money went viral in November. The claim — patently false and denied by Zelensky’s government — was picked up by far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who linked to a story about the rumor on X.

There’s much more at the link. 

It’s important to keep track of these misinformation efforts. Not only do they have real-world consequences, but they also show who the weak links—the most useful idiots—are on our side of the Atlantic.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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Norman Leahy

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Norman Leahy has written about national and Virginia politics for more than 30 years with outlets ranging from The Washington Post to BearingDrift.com. A consulting writer, editor, recovering think tank executive and campaign operative, Norman lives in Virginia.

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