The fact that Russia is involved in delivering influence operations to their adversaries should be no surprise to anyone. More specifically, via the IRA or the Internet Research Agency. This is the name of the St Petersburg based Russian troll factory funded by Yevgeny Prigozhin. The agency continues to spread false information and disseminate social divisions through multiple Western-based social media platforms. Notably on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? You might know him by his nickname. Putins chef.
Prigozhin is one of the Kremlin’s inner circle. The true definition of an oligarch, with a palace in St Petersburg, a yacht, a private plane and a helipad. His company is believed to be a main backer of the IRA. He seems to have multiple links to the Kremlin, be that the IRA, or the PMC Wagner.
The IRA was based at 55 Savushkina Street, St Petersburg before it officially ceased operations in December 2016. However, it is apparent their work continues. “They have a lot of legal entities, and they still, I think, change it every year or every two years.”
Back in 2015 the employees of the IRA were aged between 20 and 30 but were drawn from a broad cross-section of Russian society. It seemed as if the agency’s task was so large that it would hire almost anyone who responded to the many ads it posted, no matter how under-educated or politically ignorant they were.
“Internet operators are required! Work in a chic office in OLGINO !!!! payment 25 960 per month. Objective: posting comments on specialized Internet sites, writing thematic posts, blogs, social networks. Screenshot reports. The work schedule is selected individually/ Payment is weekly, 1180 per shift (from 8.00-16.00, from 10.30-18.30m from 14.00-22.00) PAYMENTS WEEKLY AND FREE FOOD!!! Official and contractual employment (optional) Training is possible!”
During the last few years a large number of IRA employees has been named to the public. Most notable perhaps is Dzheykhun Nasimi Ogly Aslanov. Aslanov was named in a 2016 OFAC sanction which read “Aslanov acted for or on behalf of and provided material and technological support to the IRA. Aslanov acted as the head of the translator project, a department which focused on the United States and conducted operations on multiple social media platforms. He also oversaw many of the operations that targeted the 2016 U.S. election.”
The IRA’s involvement in 2016 US presidential elections is well known. This connection was widely and thoroughly discussed in the US Grand Jury indictment.
Additionally there are sanctions against Prigozhin and the IRA for their attempts to influence 2018 US midterm elections.
The IRA has been the center of a lot of attention recently. The most recent being in a report written by Graphika released in October.
The report was written because Facebook announced the take-down of 50 Instagram accounts posting about US social and political issues and 2020 election. These accounts claimed to represent multiple politically active US communities including black activist groups, advocates speaking out against police violence, police supporters, southern Confederates and supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders and President Donald Trump.
Facebook attributed IRACopyPasta to operators “originating from Russia” who showed “some links” to the IRA.
“Instagram was perhaps the most effective platform for the Internet Research Agency.”
But, what have the IRA been up to recently, where do their efforts lie?
We at ‘nightingale’ have identified that in September 2018, the IRA directed malign influence operations at Estonia. Their attack was three-fold. IT focused on the separatism of Narva, Nazis and fasicsm and Estexit.
Comments included; calls for NArva and the neighboring region of East Vironia to prepare to separate from Estonia, the growth of Nazi movements in Estonia and the effects this had on society, the EU being responsible for the economic problems in Estonia.
Another topic of discussion was placing the blame on the EU and NATO for the normalization of same-sex couples heading families. We have seen the IRA posting LGBT hate previously, so it’s not that surprising.
Why Africa?
Apparently their main interest at the moment is Africa. But why? Russian interest in Africa is a lot more widespread than the IRA. Russia have been making deals and spending money and making commitments all over Africa. Not including the numerous reports of the presence of Wagner mercenaries in Africa.
Putins interest in building Russia-Africa relations could stem from; Western sanctions against Russia, its unsuccessful pivot to China, hopes for billions of dollars in Middle East involvement which have not arrived in the quantities expected, the value of African votes at the United Nations.
There are also some very clear economic motives for Russian involvement in Africa. One being the diamond mining industry. Russia has a shortage of minerals such as manganese, bauxite and chromium, which Africa has in abundance.
“They’re collecting friends and allies, and they’re finding permissive environments to sell their wares and gain commercial opportunities.”
According to leaked documents, Russia is seeking to reinforce its existence in Africa by building relations with current rulers, striking military deals and grooming a new generation of “leaders” and undercover “agents”.
Activity online
On 30th October this year Facebook reportedly suspended three networks of Russian internet accounts aimed at covertly influencing events in several African countries. This list includes Madagascar, CAR, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Sudan and Libya.
It is evident that Facebook are working hard to remove any suspicious accounts.
You can get banned on Facebook for being involved in rule breaking activities, some of which include: hate speech, credible threats or direct attacks on an individual or group, fake or impostor profiles and spam.
It is also against the Facebook community standards to maintain more than one personal account.
Bearing this in mind, how on earth do the vast majority of IRA accounts avoid detection on Facebook and Instagram?
Well, you could speculate forever with how their infrastructure works, but apparently you can avoid detection on Facebook by following these simple techniques when it comes to adding friends.
1) Manually add no more than 15 friends in a 24-hour period,
2) Cancel any friend requests which are left unanswered within a 24-hour period,
3) Do not send friends requests to every page visited
Maybe something to keep an eye on Facebook?
