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Prigozhin’s Propagandists Scurry After His Plane — and His African ThinkTank — Go Up in Flames
Read more: Prigozhin’s Propagandists Scurry After His Plane — and His African ThinkTank — Go Up in FlamesMaria Butina told me last year that she worked for the Foundation for the Protection of National Values, a thinktank that the U.S. government sanctioned for aiding Yevgeny Prigozhin’s global propaganda efforts. The website is now defunct, like him. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the notorious Russian leader of the invasion of Ukraine and the failed coup against…
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Russia’s Latest Troll Site is a Total Failure
Read more: Russia’s Latest Troll Site is a Total FailureTHE FOUNDATION TO BATTLE INJUSTICE claims to be a human rights organisation for victims of state violence in predominantly English-speaking countries. Dubbed the “Russian FBI” in its home country, the organisation is, in fact, the latest project of Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was recently added to the American FBI’s “Most Wanted” list for allegedly organising online…
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From the ICYMI Files: The Bizarre Campaign to Free a Notorious Russian Political Operative (Now With U.S. Sanctions!)
Read more: From the ICYMI Files: The Bizarre Campaign to Free a Notorious Russian Political Operative (Now With U.S. Sanctions!)ALEXANDER MALKEVICH has been sanctioned by Biden admin for spreading Kremlin propaganda. Here’s a round-up of my reporting from 2019/2020 about his global campaign to free a Russian operative from a Libyan prison. Alexander Malkevich will likely be familiar to readers of this blog. Throughout 2018, I gleefully documented his misadventures as editor of Russian…
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Russian Parliament Votes to Exclude Bloggers From Bill Branding Foreign News Outlets as “Foreign Agents”
Read more: Russian Parliament Votes to Exclude Bloggers From Bill Branding Foreign News Outlets as “Foreign Agents”The controversial proposal was devised by Alexander Malkevich, the U.S. government-sanctioned former editor of Russian propaganda site USA Really. Via Malkevich’s Telegram earlier today (courtesy of Google Translate): I’ll be honest: I’m upset; I personally voted in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation against softening the bill on foreign agents. And this is what…
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Charlie Sheen Thanked After Accused Russian Troll is Released From Libyan Prison
Read more: Charlie Sheen Thanked After Accused Russian Troll is Released From Libyan PrisonA U.S.-sanctioned Kremlin policy adviser has thanked Sheen after the star was seemingly paid $400 to record a video in support of Russian political operative Maxim Shugaley, now free after spending 18 months in a Tripoli prison. The video, addressed to Shugaley, was posted on YouTube in September by an obscure Russian channel named “Интер…
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Danny Trejo Recruited in Russian Propaganda Campaign
Read more: Danny Trejo Recruited in Russian Propaganda CampaignTrejo is the latest Hollywood celebrity to make headlines in Russia after recording a video in support of a notorious Russian political operative. The celebrities are seemingly being recruited through the pay-for-videos site Cameo. Charlie Sheen, Dolph Lundgren, and Vinnie Jones appeared in their first ever film together last month, when an obscure Russian YouTube channel…
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New Action Film “Shugalei” is Propaganda for Putin’s Cook
Read more: New Action Film “Shugalei” is Propaganda for Putin’s CookThe film credits election-meddling Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin as copyright holder. Yet the film’s co-financier, Alexander Malkevich, claims he was “not aware Prigozhin took any part in the creation of the film.” source As Libya’s U.N.-backed Government of National Accord wrests back control of Tripoli from Khalifa Haftar, the renegade leader of the Libyan National…
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Tommy Robinson Praises Putin, Slams “British Presstitutes” During Whirlwind Tour of Russian Media
Read more: Tommy Robinson Praises Putin, Slams “British Presstitutes” During Whirlwind Tour of Russian MediaThe anti-Islam activist pandered to pro-Kremlin media, mingled with a U.S.-sanctioned propagandist, and had some choice words for the British press. RIA FAN headline (source) Tommy Robinson, the co-founder and former leader of the anti-Islam English Defence League (EDL), landed in St. Petersburg last week for a whirlwind tour of Russian media, during which he…
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BBC Monitoring: Russian “Troll Factory” Cries Foul Over U.S. Ad Removal
Read more: BBC Monitoring: Russian “Troll Factory” Cries Foul Over U.S. Ad RemovalI wrote this story for BuzzFeed News, then I was targeted by a Russian disinfo campaign. BBC Monitoring reports Earlier this month, I bylined a story in BuzzFeed News, “A Russian Propagandist Ran An Ad In The Washington Post — And Then Ran Victory Laps In Russian Media.” After that story was published, a bunch…
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Round-Up 2019: Creating a Buzz
Read more: Round-Up 2019: Creating a BuzzHackers, backlinks, and Russian trolls. Revisiting my scoopiest stories of 2019 First up, a perennial thanks to zen master blogger Peter Heimlich and his wife Karen Shulman, BuzzFeed News Media Editor Craig Silverman, EIC Ben Smith, and online disinfo chronicler extraordinaire Jane Lytvynenko, Daily Beast EIC Noah Shachtman, reporters Lachlan Markay, Lachlan Cartwright, and Asawin…