According to alleged documents from the Russian secret services, Russia wants to cause confusion in European democracies with anti-Ukrainian demonstrations. The plans for the spy services were leaked by the File Center, a research organization run by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. News agencies reported that the purpose of the organized demonstrations was, among other things, to create an anti-Ukrainian atmosphere and to make it difficult for Sweden to join NATO.
According to the strategy documents, Moscow proposes that small groups of Russian agents simulate mock protests in major European cities. Fake demonstrations led by the Kremlin are believed to be already staging such fake demonstrations, including anti-Turkish rallies where agents posed as Ukrainians while agitating against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. They obviously want to create the impression that there is widespread anti-Islam sentiment in Europe.
According to the research, provocateurs also infiltrated demonstrations that took place in several cities on other topics, such as nursing shortages, pension reform and climate change, with the aim of spreading propaganda against supporting Ukraine.
The main purpose of these online platforms is to produce advertising materials.
Several cities are identified as targets in Russian strategic documents, including Paris, The Hague, Brussels, and Frankfurt. Pictures of the fake protesters went viral on social media, apparently giving the impression that anti-Ukrainian sentiment had already developed on a large scale in Western European countries.
The journalists were able to trace some of the content back to three social media accounts controlled from St. Petersburg, Russia. The Kremlin did not comment on the allegations when contacted by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
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