{"id":14982,"date":"2020-07-21T17:14:18","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T17:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2020\/07\/21\/divide-et-impera-a-look-at-russias-information-warfare-activities\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:39:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:39:50","slug":"divide-et-impera-a-look-at-russias-information-warfare-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/opinion\/2020\/07\/21\/divide-et-impera-a-look-at-russias-information-warfare-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"Divide et impera: A look at Russia\u2019s information warfare activities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the U.S. struggles to contain not only the spread of the coronavirus but also address violence that has interrupted otherwise peaceful protests, some suspect Russia is fueling the flames. Given the Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and other efforts aimed to sow discord in the U.S. and many other countries, this may be the case. Whenever and wherever Russia smells an opportunity to deepen the existing divisions, it engages. Here in Poland we have seen it too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following recent riots in some American cities, some acting and former U.S. officials (including top ones) and security experts implied<\/a>, yet not directly, that violence might have been enhanced by Russia. Moscow instantly dismissed the accusations and, twisting the issue around, used its high-ranking officials to push a narrative<\/a> that the U.S. authorities should ensure that human rights are respected in their country in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2019, NBC News reported<\/a> <\/b>that it had reviewed documents suggesting Russia could seek ways to exploit racial resentment in America. The documents, shared with NBC News by Dossier Center \u2014 a group of investigative journalists funded by former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodrokovsky \u2014 included communications between Yevgeny Prigozhin (a.k.a. \u201cPutin\u2019s chef\u201d) and his alleged associates. Prigozhin is one of 13 Russian nationals charged by the U.S. Justice Department with interfering in the 2016 presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FILE – In this July 4, 2017 file photo, Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin is shown prior to a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. The Justice Department is moving to drop charges against some Russian companies that were accused of funding a social media campaign to sway American public opinion during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. (Sergei Ilnitsky\/Pool Photo via AP, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to NBC News, the dossier included (among other troubling ideas) a plan to destabilize the U.S. through domestic violent actions performed by recruited and trained African Americans with criminal records or with ties to radical movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this sounds like confessions of a twisted mind, and perhaps should be treated accordingly. And maybe it would if it was not for Russia. All too often we have seen what the Kremlin is capable of, just to ignore such sensational reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Nov. 21, 2019, <\/b>El Pais \u2014 one of most circulated daily newspapers in Spain \u2014 reported<\/a> <\/b>that the Audiencia Nacional (Spain\u2019s high court) had opened a probe into the alleged Russian footprint in the illegal Catalan independence referendum of 2017. The confidential investigation revolved around the role of \u201cmilitary Unit 29155\u201d \u2014 a unit of the GRU, Russia\u2019s military intelligence directorate \u2014 in the separatist drive in Catalonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its name first emerged in an article posted in The New York Times<\/a> last October, under the telling title \u201cTop Secret Russian Unit Seeks to Destabilize Europe, Security Officials Say.\u201d Later reports by the likes of Bellingcat<\/a> suggested the members of the group had been implicated in the annexation of Ukraine\u2019s Crimea; a destabilization campaign in Moldova in 2014; the attempted poisoning of Bulgarian arms manufacturer Emilian Gebrev in 2015; and a failed coup in Montenegro in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding alleged Russian meddling in Catalonia, East StratCom Task Force, a unit of the European Union set up to counter the Kremlin\u2019s disinformation efforts<\/a>, saw a surge<\/a> in false information published both in Russian and Spanish ahead of and after the referendum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar findings were presented with regard to the \u201cyellow vests protests\u201d in France. The German Marshall Fund\u2019s Alliance for Securing Democracy found that in December 2019, Twitter accounts it connected to Russia used hashtags related to the movement to push narratives of discord and chaos, and to denigrate the West<\/a>. Earlier that year, Avaaz, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization, had published a study suggesting that Russia had exploited the \u201cgilets jaunes\u201d protests<\/a> to significantly expand its French-speaking audience. Indeed, according to the study, between the start of riots in late 2018 and the spring of 2019, RT France \u2014 the Kremlin\u2019s mouthpiece in France \u2014 posted two times more content to YouTube than all major French news outlets combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But worst of all, as found by Avaaz, the fake news related to the \u201cyellow vests\u201d movement reached roughly 105 million views on Facebook alone. No wonder, in December 2018, the French foreign minister revealed that the French security services were looking at the situation<\/a> as part of an investigation into a possible Russian interference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there is Brexit and the Scottish independence referendum. The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has just made public<\/a> a report<\/a> titled \u201cRussia,\u201d which it drafted more than a year ago. The first bullet point of the ISC\u2019s press release concerning its inquiry reads: \u201cRussian influence in the UK is the new normal.\u201d The committee conclusively found that Russia had tried to influence the referendum on Scottish independence of Sept. 18, 2014. As for the Brexit vote held two years later, the committee did not obtain sufficient evidence of the Russian footprint from competent services. However, the ISC urged the U.K. intelligence community to prepare its own assessment of a potential Russian interference in the EU referendum and to publish an unclassified summary of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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KNUTSFORD, UNITED KINGDOM – JUNE 24: A European Union flag, with a hole cut in the middle, flies at half-mast outside a home in Knutsford Cheshire after today’s historic referendum on June 24, 2016 in Knutsford, United Kingdom. The results from the historic EU referendum has now been declared and the United Kingdom has voted to LEAVE the European Union. (Photo by Christopher Furlong\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some British media familiar with its findings <\/b>have suggested that ISC, which had studied possible Russian interference in democratic processes in the U.K. for 18 months, was not able to rule out the Kremlin\u2019s footprint in the 2016 Brexit vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returning to the current unrest in the U.S., in its recent analysis<\/a> posted to EUvsDISINFO, East StratCom Task Force wrote: \u201cThe pro-Kremlin disinformation ecosystem<\/a> attempts to exploit the protests in every possible way \u2014 expressing sympathy with the protesters, as well as conveying openly racist sentiment.\u201d The analysis ends with the following remark: \u201cAnything goes when the Kremlin desperately is seeking an audience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But why would Russia want to destabilize an internal situation in such remote (from Russia\u2019s perspective) countries like Spain or the U.S.? The simplest answer is: divide et impera, or divide and rule. The more a society is polarized, the more vulnerable it becomes. Deeper vulnerabilities can be further exploited later on. Another possibility is that an interference by a hostile actor in a country\u2019s internal affairs serves to test how far the actor can go before it is exposed. Besides, interfering can be used as a means of intimidation or a message, such as: \u201cDon\u2019t underestimate us, or else ….\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here in Poland we have also seen Russia\u2019s attempts to polarize society. With the presidential election set to be held June 28, Russian propaganda has stepped up its efforts to deepen the existing divisions among the Poles and push its agenda. For instance, pro-Russian media have been advocating<\/a> in favor of those candidates who openly criticize the construction of a ship canal across the Vistula Spit and the purchase by Polish armed forces of American-made F-35 fighter jets. Both investments are a serious pain in Moscow\u2019s neck, as they enhance the national security of Poland and are a further step toward severing ties with Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\t