‘The De Facto Beheading of Russian Propaganda Operations in Europe and Africa’
Based on intel received a year ago, Europe is taking action against Russian propaganda superspreaders
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The Bette Dangerous community has learned so much in recent days. From Anthony Barnett, co-founder of openDemocracy, we learned that Europe is seen as a specter to Russia, US, and China, which is threatened by any remaining countries with rule of law, regulations, and human rights. Why do you think useful huckster Elon Musk is always tweeting at other countries, escalating racial division and bolstering far-right movements…
We learned from Ukrainian historian that Russia is using everything as a weapon — so to not look for Russia’s hand in far-right movements aiming to accelerate democratic doom is to ignore the obvious.
On the heels of the sentencing of Nathan Gill, a former leader of Reform UK in Wales, who received a 10.5 year sentence for taking bribes linked to Russia, it’s important to take a closer look at the enemies of the free world.
We talk a lot about throwaway agents and gig worker espionage on these pages, and note that too little is being done to expose and prevent domestic traitors from spreading pro-Russian regime lies.
So it’s worth looking at what the EU has been doing to recognize the threat. Recently, I documented the uptick in prosecutions of Russian spies in Europe, but I just stumbled upon this Italian article from Linkiesta dated December 18, 2024, that shows the EU has been aware of journalists engaging in Russian propaganda superspreading, and are taking action based on this intel, with sanctions set to applied Friday, November 21.
I translated the report to English:
The enemies of the free world: Europe sanctions the Russian spy that brought the propagandists to Donbas
Originally reported by Massimiliano Coccia in Linkiesta, Dec. 18, 2024
The latest package of European sanctions affects those responsible for the actions of hybrid war and disinformation (also anti-Semitic). Among them, the Moscow official who helped the self-styled journalists Andrea Lucidi and Vincenzo Lorusso
On Monday, the Foreign Affairs Council approved the fifteenth sanctions package that for the first time includes those responsible for hybrid warfare and propaganda actions in favor of the Russian regime.
A very important result achieved with a widespread work by the European Commission and the offices of the High Representative of Foreign Policy Kaja Kallas and his predecessor Josep Borrell.
The names included in the package were investigated since May 2024, and for this reason it was necessary to update the regulation of the sanctioning legislation, since no repressive measures were provided for those who implement systemic campaigns of disinformation and influence against European States.
On the basis of this innovation, the European Union has thus managed to determine a line of names that over the years have planned, elaborated and contributed to generating hybrid war actions.
Scrolling through the list of sanctioned you can witness the de facto beheading of the Russian propaganda operations center in Europe and Africa. Among the sanctioned entities we find Unit 29155 of the Gru (Russian Military Secret Service) which deals with recruitment policies and propaganda actions in the European territory (with particular attention to the Baltic countries).
According to the European Commission document, “the Gru unit 29155 is a hidden unit within the Russian military intelligence agency (Gru), known for its involvement in murders abroad and destabilization activities throughout Europe. Through coups d’état, murders, bomb attacks and cyber attacks against other countries around the world in relation to the war in Ukraine, the unit seeks to create chaos and destabilize the countries of the European Union. By doing such, it tries to help Russia and bring advantages to the latter. The Gru 29155 unit carried out computer and other attacks against critical infrastructure. It is therefore responsible for planning and directing destabilization activities and attempts at destabilization in the countries of the European Union.’
In the list of sanctions we find Artem Sergeevich Kureev, editor-in-chief of “African Initiative” and a very important figure for the Russian media scene, Tinatin Kandelaki, a prominent figure of Gazprom Media (sanctioned entity) held responsible for conveying Russian propaganda in the illegally occupied territories and using his media weight to justify the invasion.
But the real destabilizing blow for the European network of propagandists comes with the sanctions to Alesya Miloradovich, a name that says little to the general public, but it is she who - as we read in the Commission’s operatives - “as a collaborator of the Moscow government organized an “election observation” mission in the Ukrainian territories illegally occupied by Russia, in the context of the referendum on the annexation of these regions to Russia, and recruited French citizens who participated in the mission. She publicly admitted to doing so in favor of the Russian government. She was also co-organizer of visits to the Artek International Children’s Centre in illegally annexed Crimea, funded by the government of the Russian Federation. She was also involved in the Russian propaganda project “Foreign Journalists for Russia” and helped spread pro-Russian opinions, also stating that French society and Western society support Russian actions against Ukraine. Alesya Miloradovich is therefore responsible for actions or policies of the Government of the Russian Federation that compromise or threaten the democracy, the rule of law, stability or security of a third country, or carries out or supports or takes advantage of such actions or policies by planning or directing actions that hinder or compromise the democratic political process of a third country, including by attempting to destabilize the constitutional order, or the direct or indirect involvement in such actions or otherwise facilitation thereof.’
In the mission “Foreign Journalists for Russia”, which is considered the backbone of the recruitment of Russian propaganda in Europe, according to a list sent by the Ukrainian government to the European institutions, the Italians Andrea Lucidi and Vincenzo Lorusso are also part, who appear in the company of Miloradovich in various shots of a mission precisely in the occupied territories.
A French government official confirms to us that the names of “Andrea Lucidi and Vincenzo Lorusso were sent in November by Kyjiv and reported to the European authorities”.
The think tank that ensures support, logistics and protection also include other self-styled journalists whose names we are able to report: Enrique Javier Refoyo Acedo (Spain), Arnaud Develay, Thierry Saint-Hermes, Laurent Briard (France), Fiorella Majorca, Patrick Lancaster (United States), Andrea Lucidi, Vincenzo Lorusso (Italy), Sonya van den Ende, Mirjam Mahmoud (Netherlands), Carlos Fernando Mamani Aliaga (Peru), Kosti Heiskanen (Finland), Cem Kiran, Okay Deprem (Turkey), Vadim Alekseev (Latvia), Haukur Hauksson (Iceland) and Mehnoor Singh (India).
Alesya Miloradovich, by virtue of “shadow diplomacy”, according to our source would also have interceded at numerous embassies and consular offices in European countries to facilitate the issuance of visas for undercover Russian secret services personnel.
An international propaganda that has entered the international signaling circuits since last November and that according to many rumors will receive equal sanctions between January and February, when the Foreign Affairs Council will meet to update the list.
In conclusion, another important sanction against Anatolii Prizenko, a Moldovan businessman who works for the company Oriflam Cosmetics S.A., who became the protagonist at the end of October 2023, on behalf of the Russian government, of an anti-Semitic campaign in France called “Operation David’s Star”.
Prizenko sent to Paris, for consideration, many Moldovan citizens who painted stars of David on the streets. “This operation had a great media resonance - is underlined by the Commission document - and produced a significant destabilizing effect in the context of the conflict between Israel and Hamas following the attack of October 7, 2023. The images of this operation were first released by the media network Recent Reliable News, which is associated with the government of the Russian Federation and used by Russian actors to conduct disinformation campaigns.
Anatolii Prizenko claimed the operation, and reportedly “this destabilizing operation was carried out to the benefit of the Russian military intelligence service (Gru) with the aim of fueling tensions within French society”.
The Prizenko case shows once again how the ways of propaganda are endless and how there is a clear seal between systemic anti-Semitism, Hamas and Russia, a polarizing element used to discredit the estate of our institutions. Once again the enemies of democracy are on the same side of the barricade.
Re-read that last paragraph and think about America — the red-brown alliance, the horseshoe that forms when extreme left meets extreme right. See the exploitation of polarizing events to artificially divide people in democratic nations, to keep them in a state of fear. Understand that these are operations by the Russian military, doled out to useful idiots — sometimes teenagers found on Telegram, other times ‘journalists’ now found in the White House.
Russia is our enemy. I don’t know how many times I need to say this. If you believe in democracy, then Russia is your enemy.
Every year, on the last Saturday of the month of November, Ukraine commemorates the memory of the Holodomor victims of 1932-1933. a man-made famine created by Stalin and Soviet authorities. Today, remembrance events will take place globally.
“They are killing us again,” said Tetiana Boriak, the Ukrainian historian who is taking time tomorrow to share with us lessons from the Holodomor at our Speakeasy series with her.
The parallels between a century ago and present day could not be more clear. As we noted on RadPod’s livestream last night, America is now creating man-made famines. Russia is killing Ukrainians again. Who’s side on you on?
I’m on the side of democracy and those who understand the threats we are under.
Here, in RadPod’s latest, Tetiana Boriak articulates the threats, emerging from a century ago.
Listen to Ukrainians.
Support European leaders who see that we are already at war.
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