The Russian publication The Insider has published an investigation into plans for destabilizing the political situation in Ukraine and Western countries, developed by Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).
The investigation is based on correspondence from SVR employees responsible for "information warfare" against the West, which was obtained by The Insider. The exact source of this correspondence and how it came into the hands of journalists was not specified.
Among the documents obtained was an analytical report prepared by SVR representatives for a roundtable discussion held on May 26, 2022, at the Russian Federation Council, focusing on "The Role of Information in the Great Western Confrontation; the Future of Internet Platforms in the New Reality."
For the information confrontation with Ukraine and the West, the document proposes using unconventional methods of influence. This includes posting materials on the internet, ostensibly on behalf of pro-Ukrainian civic organizations, with new political, economic, and social demands.
Regarding activities related to Ukraine, the special services suggested moving away from a straightforward, openly pro-Kremlin narrative, which they believe increasingly yields opposite results. Instead, they propose focusing on deepening existing and creating new contradictions between the Ukrainian government and Western partners. This includes conducting "network wars in the EU cyberspace" on topics such as Ukrainian refugees, social support for them, and stirring up local populations, among others.
Topics "painful for Western society" such as illegal migration, inflation, and the influx of refugees from Ukraine were to be promoted under the guise of fake "radical Ukrainian and European forces." According to SVR, this approach would allow them to "eliminate any ties to Russia" and "promote practically any theses, propagating the most leftist ideas and advancing political and economic demands to the point of absurdity."
The document also proposed deepening internal contradictions among ruling elites, encouraging anti-government protests, and "destabilizing the amorphous part of the electorate," which is "susceptible to psycho-emotional influence, leading them to the brink of madness as the familiar world view collapses before their eyes."
It emphasized that for the sake of implementing these strategies, considerations of morality and ethics should be disregarded.
SVR suggested dividing the target audience into two parts — rational (20-30%) and emotional (70-80%) — and injecting their narratives into the information space accordingly. They proposed focusing not on rational arguments but on emotions, provoking internal contradictions in the West and societal rifts: "Addressing emotions rather than reason contributes to achieving the goals set by the propaganda machine as quickly as possible," the document stated.
The primary emphasis was placed on cultivating fear. "Cultivating fear for the future, uncertainty about tomorrow, the inability to make plans for the future, and the uncertainty of the fate of children and future generations will saturate the subconscious of the individual with panic and horror, which will ultimately lead to an escalation of protest activity and other negative consequences," the plan outlined.
SVR believes that transmitting a "negative" agenda through the internet, social networks, and messengers — the so-called "new" media — has a clear advantage, as the information flow that reaches the recipient online significantly exceeds the volume and intensity of daily content handled by professional news editors 25-30 years ago.
According to The Insider, subsequent events have shown that SVR's methodology completely aligns with the logic of subsequent Kremlin campaigns in Europe and the United States. For example, in 2023, anti-Semitic graffiti began to appear massively in Paris, with photographs of which the Kremlin's bot network Doppelganger, associated with GRU, immediately disseminated. The authors of the graffiti turned out to be Moldovans associated with pro-Kremlin politician Ilan Shor. The same Doppelganger network spread fake quotes attributed to Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, Cristiano Ronaldo, and others demanding an end to assistance to Ukraine, while using the voice of Tom Cruise to threaten attacks at the future Paris Olympics.
The article also names several SVR employees responsible for "information warfare" against the West. They operate under the cover of the International Security Center "Peacekeeper," established in December 2020. Key figures mentioned include 45-year-old FSB officer and military serviceman of SVR military unit No. 33949, Mikhail Kolesov; SVR employee Mikhail Kulyomin; his father, General Alexander Kulyomin of the 12th Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense; and Edward Chornovolts, head of the scientific and technical service of the FSB. This service oversees the main hacking unit of the FSB and the Institute of Criminology, which developed the nerve agent "Novichok."
