TOs Russia’s ruthless war against Ukraine has faced major setbacks since it began a year ago, the Kremlin has deployed new themes and disinformation tactics to weaken US support for Kiev with the help of conservative media stars and some Republicans. in Congress, according to new studies and experts. .
Disinformation messages from Moscow have included widely debunked conspiracy theories about US bioweapons labs in Ukraine and American right-wing favorites portraying Russian President Vladimir Putin as an ally backing the US. traditional values, religion and family in the fight against the “awakening”. ideas
In addition, new studies from think tanks that track disinformation have pointed out that alternative social media platforms such as Parler, Rumble, Gab and Odysee have been increasingly used to spread Russian falsehoods since Facebook and Twitter have placed more restrictions on disinformation. Moscow propaganda.
Other pro-Russian messages focused on the economic costs of the war to the US have been echoed by Republicans in the powerful far-right House Freedom Caucus, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Scott Perry and Paul Gosar, who have to varying degrees questioned give Ukraine more military aid and demanded stricter supervision.
Since Russia launched its invasion last February, Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Trump ally turned far-right broadcaster Steve Bannon have promoted some of the most unsubstantiated claims that help bolster aggression. of the Kremlin.
For example, Bannon’s War Room podcast in February 2022 featured an interview with Erik Prince, the wealthy American founder of Blackwater, where both raved that Putin’s policies were “anti-wake” and praised homophobia and transphobia. from Putin.
Also last month, on the anniversary of the invasion of Moscow, Carlson stepped up his attacks on US support for Ukraine by falsely claiming that Biden’s goal had become “to overthrow Putin and put American tanks in Red Square because Sure, we could handle Russia once we topple the dictator. ”.
Analysts tracking Russia disinformation see synergies between the Kremlin and parts of the American right that have helped spread some of the biggest falsehoods since the start of the invasion.
“Russia doesn’t spin even its most outlandish narratives out of thin air: it builds on existing political fissures and resentments,” Jessica Brandt, a policy director at the Brookings Institution who tracks disinformation and foreign interference, told The Guardian.
He added: “Therefore, there is often a kind of harmony: both Kremlin couriers and key media figures, each for their own reasons, have an interest in criticizing the administration for its handling of the Ukraine crisis. , in increasing mistrust in the authorized media, in playing on skepticism about the origins of Covid and frustration with the government’s mitigation measures.
“That was the case with the biolabs conspiracy theory, for example, which posits that the Pentagon has been supporting the development of biological weapons in Ukraine. The Charlie Kirk Show podcast and Steve Bannon’s War Room, among others, devoted multiple segments to the claim. It is not so much that we are witnessing some kind of coordination, but rather an alignment of interests”.
Brandt also noted that Russia had an “interest in promoting authentic American voices expressing views that align with the Kremlin’s foreign policy objectives. And that’s why you often see them retweet Americans making these arguments.”
Similarly, two separate reports issued last month by the Alliance to Secure Democracy and the Atlantic Council reveal how Russian state media changed some messaging topics and adopted new tactics aimed at undermining US support for Ukraine.
The Alliance report documented a shift in messaging in the US and Europe from directly defending the Russian invasion to emphasizing the energy and economic impacts it was having, themes that appear to be resonating with some Republican politicians.
In the first six months of the war, Alliance data revealed that Russia-linked Twitter accounts mentioned “Nazi” in more than 5,800 posts.tweets.
But in the following six months, from August 2022 to January 2023, “the number of ‘Nazi’ tweets abandonment to 3,373 – a 42% decrease.” Similarly, mentions of NATO by Russia-linked accounts on Twitter fell by roughly 30% in the second six-month period.
By contrast, in the most recent six-month period, the report says, “Tweets mentioning both ‘energy’ and ‘Ukraine’ increased by 267%, while tweets mentioning ‘cost of living’ increased by 66%.” “compared to the first six months of the war.
In another twist, Bret Schafer, who leads the Alliance’s information manipulation team, told The Guardian: “In response to restrictions and crackdowns by major technology platforms, accounts and channels affiliated with the Russian state media RT, which has been banned outright on YouTube, have been deployed to alternative social media and video sharing platforms like Rumble and Odysee that have less restrictive content moderation policies and allow RT to operate without labels or restrictions.
“Those platforms also tend to cater to audiences that are not necessarily pro-Russian, but certainly more apt, based on the other videos found on those platforms, to oppose continued support for Ukraine.”
Despite Moscow’s disinformation offensive and more than $100 billion in military and financial aid pouring into Ukraine in a year, former Pennsylvania House of Representatives member Charlie Dent said that “Most members of the Republican Party continue to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.”
But Dent stressed that “the harder side of the Bannon-Carlson wing of the Maga movement in Congress is more sympathetic to the Russian arguments and has an isolationist view of US foreign policy. There are some members who are less willing to push back against autocrats. There are also others who find common cause with Russia’s professed socially conservative orientation.”
Those voices are especially loud in the Freedom Caucus, which is exerting increasing influence with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has said he will not support a “blank check” for Ukraine and this week declined the invitation of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. to visit kyiv.
Greene, a member of the Georgia Freedom Caucus, at the recent CPAC conference, said flatly, “We’ve done enough.”
Democrats are especially concerned about the American right’s acceptance of pro-Kremlin disinformation.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy criticized American conservatives for echoing Kremlin propaganda and traced his roots to former President Donald Trump, who at the start of the Russian invasion praised Putin as an “expert” and “genius.” Murphy said Trump’s “admiration for Putin” has “become a collective obsession on the right.”
Murphy noted that among those obsessed on the right is Donald Trump Jr, whom he follows on social media, and who “relentlessly mocks Zelenskiy online.”
Meanwhile, Putin’s own words and propaganda have changed of late, as he has tried to sway US and Western opinion, and assuaged Russian dissent.
“Millions of people in the West understand that they are being led into a true spiritual catastrophe,” Putin criticized last month in an extremely hyperbolic speech that focused on “the destruction of families” and related issues.
Russia experts warn that Putin’s rhetoric and the Kremlin’s messages on these issues are far removed from reality in Russia.
“One of the blatant mistakes of far-right propagandists is to see Vladimir Putin as some kind of defender of Christianity, of family values, and protector of the white race,” said Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. . . “They repeat Kremlin talking points and get excited about Russia’s ‘gay propaganda’ law. Nothing is further from reality.
“Today, Russia is the leader in Europe for high divorce rates, HIV infections, and low church attendance and practice.”
Senator Murphy hopes that Putin will have “the [American] right to advance Russian propaganda and exploit our internal divisions.”
