Ukraine says Russia is preparing new disinformation campaign to destabilise country
Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service says it has obtained a number of Russian documents indicating that preparations are underway to destabilise the situation in Ukraine and undermine international support for the country.
Source: press service for the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine
Details: According to the agency, Russian ruler Vladimir Putin's administration has instructed intelligence services, the Foreign Ministry and Russian media outlets to intensify a media campaign in both Ukrainian and European public discourse.
One of the issues reported to be on the Kremlin's "agenda" is how to prevent the "media scandal surrounding A. Yermak and the interview with Y. Mendel" from fading into the background. The Kremlin considers this an important issue, but one that has been pushed out of European discourse by international events, including recent developments in Iran.
The issues referred to here are the news that Andrii Yermak, former head of the Ukrainian President's Office, has been named as a suspect in a major corruption case, and a 12 May interview by former Ukrainian presidential press secretary Yuliia Mendel in which she made unsubstantiated claims about President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and senior officials.
Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service says Russia's "media plan" envisages creating forged documents designed to resemble those issued by Ukrainian authorities and leaking them publicly in order to provoke a public reaction.
Russian propaganda media outlets have also been tasked with creating mouthpieces – individuals who will take part in the disinformation campaign. The Foreign Intelligence Service says Russia plans to involve former Ukrainian officials, political figures and experts in these efforts.
"Starting today, we are already recording the first attempts by Russia to act according to the new scenario not only in Ukraine, but also abroad," the intelligence service said.
Separate documents reportedly indicate that more than 15 proxy media outlets are expected to be involved in spreading the campaign exclusively within Western public discourse. Among the outlets mentioned are L'Antidiplomatico, Magyar Nemzet, První Zprávy and CZ24.news. The list is said to be incomplete and still awaiting approval by the Kremlin administration.
"The materials obtained by the Foreign Intelligence Service indicate that Russia plans to further intensify the campaign, expand destructive narratives, and increase its audience and geographical reach," the intelligence service added.
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