Russia thinks they’re pretty good at the whole propaganda thing. They’re notorious for their troll farms, dedicated to creating and spreading fake news.
But just as President Vladimir Putin is showing signs of coming unglued, it looks like some of Russia’s trolls may be getting a bit careless under pressure.
NBC News senior reporter Ben Collins has put together an interesting thread on some of their recent handiwork, which doesn’t seem to be fooling as many people as they’d like:
Quick thread:
I want you all to meet Vladimir Bondarenko.
He’s a blogger from Kiev who really hates the Ukrainian government.
He also doesn’t exist, according to Facebook.
He’s an invention of a Russian troll farm targeting Ukraine. His face was made by AI. pic.twitter.com/uWslj1Xnx3
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) February 28, 2022
Facebook took down two anti-Ukraine disinformation operations this weekend.
They were tied to Ukraine Today, a Russian propaganda outfit created to make Ukraine look like a failed state.
They used fake profiles on Facebook to make it all seem real.https://t.co/4tf9Y0SwSa
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) February 28, 2022
“Vladimir” has a whole backstory on the Ukraine Today website. He was an aviation engineer, until he was forced into blogging when Ukraine’s aviation infrastructure “collapsed.”
He also has weird ears, which is what happens when you make a face on https://t.co/Gr3BMTJttU pic.twitter.com/n0ogfNXhqT
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) February 28, 2022
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Vladimir’s coworker Irina Kerimova from Kharkiv was also AI-generated.
She was a private guitar teacher (?) until she became editor-in-chief of this Russian propaganda website in 2017. Quite a promotion!
Also, interesting choice of mismatched earrings. pic.twitter.com/lor2gVsV4M
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) February 28, 2022
This new propaganda operation has links to News Front and South Front, Facebook told us — two Russian propaganda outfits identified by the State Dept. in 2020.
News Front and South Front are run by Alexander Malkevich, who ran… the St. Petersburg troll farm after 2016. pic.twitter.com/VDRj7eCjTp
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) February 28, 2022
The St. Petersburg troll farm was charged by Robert Mueller for interfering in the 2016 election.
Malkevich took it over after that, launching a site called USA Really.
⁰⁰I talked to him about it in front of the White House in 2018. It was very weird.https://t.co/LYuTBSBXcx
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) February 28, 2022
Malkevich was listed as part of sanctions by the U.S. Treasury last year for his role in USA Really. Both USA Really and the 2016 troll farm were funded by Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Prigozhin.
Here’s a map of how he planned to target the U.S.https://t.co/7swJSDbcNl
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) February 28, 2022
Anyway, Russia's back at it, now targeting Ukrainians in Ukraine with articles called “Zelensky is building a neo-Nazi dictatorship in Ukraine” and “Why Ukraine will only get worse.”
And they’re written by people like Vladimir, who don’t exist.
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) February 28, 2022
Here's my full story with @jolingkent about the new Russian influence operation targeting Ukraine with AI-generated faces.
It shows how Facebook and Twitter snuffed out a campaign that was all over the web.
It’s pretty good! You should read it.https://t.co/4tf9Y0SwSa
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) February 28, 2022