Russia has been recently going lengths to implement its malign influence operations on foreign soil, which at the same time leads to their intelligence assets being compromised with little to no political effect achieved. Moscow is turning to the most ineffective practices of Soviet propaganda designed to manipulate own population but never intended for international audiences.
On April 19, under the auspices of the Russian foreign ministry, a press conference will be held at the Russia Today propaganda agency’s International Multimedia Press Center, in an apparent attempt to blur the international focus on Russian war crimes against Ukrainian children, shifting responsibility onto a coalition of Western democracies. It is likely that the event will cover the facts of children’s deaths in armed conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan to put the blame on the United States. It is also highly likely that the topic will be combined with the Syria crisis and the issue of Syrian refugee children. The participants will also blame the West, claiming that those children’s suffering is their fault. One of the tasks pursued by Moscow is to falsify facts, portraying the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine as an effort to evacuate Ukrainian children to ensure their safety and further reunification with their loved ones.
Such efforts on the part of the Kremlin are a forced step as Moscow must somehow respond in the media space to the revealed deportation of 19,500 Ukrainian children, whom Russia settled throughout its huge territory. The Kremlin’s concern stems from the fact that it was the illegal removal of children from Ukraine that stood at the core of an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, issued by the International Ciminal Court in The Hague. Russia’s sensitive reaction to the court decision manifested itself in their effort to shift the accusations onto the West – a traditional practice of Soviet-era propaganda.
The list of those expected to attend the propaganda event includes individuals who have long been used by Russian intelligence in their influence operations.
Among them is Mira Terada (aka Oksana Vovk), Prigozhin’s personal propagandist, head of the Anti-Repression Foundation, a Russian rights activist who served a prison sentence in the U.S. on money laundering charges, avoiding a more serious conviction for drug trafficking.
U.S. Army Corporal, Iraq War veteran Daniel Bosworth, who is likely to sue the United States over his Iraq deployment. For the last 10 years, he has been living with his family in Russia. In March 2022, he already took part in the Russian psyop when he spoke at an event hosted by the Public Chamber, openly supporting Russia’s incursion of Ukraine.
British blogger Vanessa Beeley, a vocal supporter of the Assad regime in Syria, who discredited the White Helmets nonprofit, spat out anti-Semitic slurs, being outraged at the very existence of the state of Israel, and justified Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Since 2021, she has been living in Syria, being in contact with Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who in turn is in close touch with Russia’s military intelligence.
Dutch independent journalist Sonya van den Ende, who spins reports claiming futility of supporting Ukraine and justifies Russia’s invasion. She was also exploited in Russia’s military intelligence operations to compromise the Joint Investigation Team probing the MH17 downing.
Polish rights activist Joanna Paszkiewicz, who is known for spreading numerous pro-Russian and anti-European narratives.
Thus, the Russian foreign ministry is among the agencies engaged in trying to mitigate the risks related to the systematic abduction of Ukrainian children by Russian forces and the devastating PR consequences for the Kremlin against the backdrop of ongoing war crimes. This once again confirms the assumption of the latest psyops being run by several Russian agencies in close coordination.
Foreign nationals involved in propaganda events are financially motivated by Russian intelligence.
According to our estimates, the event hosted by the Russian foreign ministry will have no effect on the general international perception of Russian war crimes against children in Ukraine. At the same time, it compromises individuals who cooperate with the Russians in the framework of malign influence operations. It is expected that this will lead to a further exposure of Russia’s intelligence assets.
