Russia's disinformation efforts "intentionally target and destabilize neighboring countries" - State Department

Baku/21.01.22/Turan: Russia's disinformation efforts "are intentionally targeted at destabilizing neighboring countries" - State Department 
The U.S. State Department on Thursday blasted a Russian disinformation campaign as saying it was a part of the Kremlin's "pretext" to invade Ukraine and "divide the international reaction to its actions."

However, Washington is also warning that Moscow's disinformation efforts are "not just limited to Ukraine", TURAN's U.S. correspondent reports.

"Russia has a long history of employing disinformation outlets, intelligence service affiliates globally, to spread false narratives in support of its strategic goals", a senior State Department official said during a press briefing organized by the Washington Foreign Press Center.

To expose and disrupt Russia's destabilization campaign in Ukraine, the U.S. Treasury, on Thursday imposed sanctions on four individuals connected to ongoing Russian intelligence service-directed influence activities designed to destabilize Ukraine.

Disinformation has increasingly become a key aspect of Russia's playbook in recent years, and the State Department fact sheets identify five common themes or false narratives found in Russian disinformation: "Russia is an innocent victim", "historical revisionism", "the collapse of Western civilization is imminent", "popular uprisings around the world are U.S.-sponsored color revolutions", and "Reality is whatever the Kremlin wants it to be."

"These narratives act like a template, which enables the Kremlin to adjust these narratives, with one consistency – a complete disregard for truth as it shapes the information environment to support its policy goals," the State Department said in a statement.

Speaking to reporters, senior State Department officials mentioned that Moscow's disinformation efforts are "not individuals expressing free speech or personal opinion".

"These actions are a concerted effort directed by the Russian Government, using Russian Government resources, to intentionally target and destabilize neighboring countries."

"These are not just public statements from Russia’s MFA account, the press or cultural attachés working at embassies or through official public accounts, although they also frequently are purveyors of similar tropes. These are broader campaigns, using shell companies, false names, and layers to conceal the real backers and their intentions.  And this is part of a larger campaign to orchestrate a scenario that offers an excuse for Russian Government behavior and to create a pretext for Russia to further invade Ukraine," a State Department official said.

The U.S. and NATO Allies and European partners have sent a consistent message to Russia in the past weeks: de-escalate tensions, choose the path of diplomacy, and continue to engage in honest and reciprocal dialogue." Continuing hostile and coordinated disinformation attacks is not de-escalation," the official added.

"Over the preceding weeks, we have seen Russia’s military and intelligence entities engaging in this activity across Russia’s disinformation ecosystem, pushing out propaganda designed to portray Ukraine as an aggressor and build public support for a further Russian invasion. To foment this disinformation storm, Russian intelligence services use a variety of methods to create, launder, and amplify their false narratives.  Here are three examples," another State Department official said.

Asked how Moscow managed to shift the current European security concerns from the annexation of Ukraine and Georgia territories to a false narrative of NATO expansion, the official told TURAN's Washington correspondent that a key element of Russia’s toolkit is to use dissemination and spread false narratives to advance its policy objectives.

"One of the best ways that we can really deny the effectiveness of those false narratives is to raise awareness and increase transparency of its disinformation tools and tactics. So increasing that awareness, working together, that is the best way to prevent the effectiveness of those narratives from taking root." the official concluded.

Alex Raufoglu
Washington D.C.