Declassified US Intel Exposes Russian Propaganda Machine: Unwitting Western Targets Amplify Kremlin’s Narrative
Russian intelligence is carrying out a systematic program to disseminate pro-Kremlin propaganda through private interactions between Russian operatives and unsuspecting individuals in the United States and other Western countries, according to recently declassified US intelligence reports.
US intelligence agencies have determined that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) is actively attempting to influence public opinion and public policy in the West. The FSB achieves this by instructing Russian civilians to foster relationships with influential individuals in the US and the Western world. These individuals then unknowingly promote narratives that align with Kremlin objectives, while the FSB’s involvement remains concealed through layers of supposedly independent actors.
The strategies employed in these influence operations are deliberately limited in scale, with the overall aim being to present these ideas as organic and originating from US and Western sources. A US official familiar with the declassified material explained, The co-opted influence operations primarily rely on personal relationships… They establish trust and subsequently exploit it to covertly advance the FSB’s agenda.
The intelligence findings indicate that these campaigns have had some success in embedding Russian narratives in Western media. For instance, Maxim Grigoriev, who leads a Russian non-governmental organization, delivered multiple speeches at the United Nations where he presented a falsified study falsely accusing the humanitarian group White Helmets, which operates in Syria, of engaging in organ trafficking and fabricating chemical attacks attributed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a Russian ally. Eventually, these baseless claims made their way into a TV report by the far-right OANN network in the United States, according to publicly available information shared by the official.
CNN has reached out to both Grigoriev and OANN for comment, although the official highlighted that the individuals who end up amplifying Russian propaganda are likely unaware of their role in doing so. Ultimately, these unwitting targets unknowingly disseminate Russian influence operations and propaganda to their target audience, the US official stated. A significant number of these individuals remain oblivious to the fact that they are essentially spreading these narratives.
The declassified intelligence provides examples of Russian civilian co-optees fulfilling the FSB’s directives. Andrey Stepanenko, for instance, established a media project in 2014 that sponsored US and Western journalists to visit eastern Ukraine and uncover the alleged truth about what was happening in the region. However, it was the FSB that guided Stepanenko’s efforts and most likely financially supported the project, according to the declassified intelligence report. CNN was unable to locate Stepanenko for comment.
Another example is Natalia Burlinova, the founder of a Russian non-governmental organization who routinely coordinated FSB-funded public diplomacy campaigns aimed at influencing Western perspectives. In 2018, she visited several US think tanks and universities in New York, Boston, and Washington, conducting meetings and hosting events, all financed by the FSB, as detailed in the intelligence. Burlinova’s activities had already drawn public attention, and she was recently indicted on charges of conspiring with an FSB officer to act as an illegal agent of Russia within the United States. However, she currently remains in Russia.
While the US official did not provide specific evidence supporting the intelligence community’s assertion that the FSB funds these operations, they emphasized that once the FSB’s backing is established, it becomes relatively easy to trace the narratives being propagated through publicly available sources.
The official declined to comment on whether Russia has employed similar tactics to influence US elections. However, the FSB does adopt comparable strategies to shape political opinions within Russia. For instance, a Russian media figure named Anton Tsvetkov, in line with the FSB’s instructions, organized protests outside embassies in Moscow, including the US Embassy. These protests promoted Russia’s narrative of the Ukrainian conflict, emphasizing the so-called Ukrainian Nazi narrative and blaming the US and its allies for the deaths of children in the Donbass region, while concealing the Russian government’s role, according to the declassified intelligence.
The purpose of those protests really was… designed to sell it to the Russian people, the US official explained.
In conclusion, the declassified US intelligence reports shed light on Russia’s systematic dissemination of pro-Kremlin propaganda through private relationships between Russian operatives and unsuspecting individuals in the West. These operations aim to influence public opinion and policy, with some success in planting Russian narratives in Western media. The unwitting individuals who become vehicles for Russian propaganda are often unaware of their role in advancing the Kremlin’s agenda. As investigations into these operations continue, the challenge lies in raising awareness and countering the impact of covert influence campaigns.
