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ABSTRACT
As part of its war effort in Ukraine following its invasion in February 2022, the Russian military has had the lead on a psychological operations (PSYOP) campaign of disinformation focused on claims of an alleged U.S.-run biological warfare program in Ukraine. This study analyzes the mechanics and content of this effort in terms of objectives, target audiences, key communicators, themes, dissemination methods, and measures of effectiveness and assesses its results, concluding that while considerable assets have been invested in this PSYOP campaign in support of the overall Russian war effort, and despite some tactical impact, greater success has been elusive due to the campaign’s flawed assumptions and structure.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. V. Putin, “Ob utverzhdenii Kontseptsii vneshniei politiki Rossiiskoi Federatsii,” 31 March 2023, 28-29.
2. Major General (Ret) Sergei Korotkov, “Zlonamernye dezinformatsionnye kampanii destabiliziruyushchii faktor poddrzhivaniya mezhdunarodnoi informatsionnoi bezopasnosti,” Mezhdunarodnaya zhizn’ (Moscow), 31 October 2022, https://interaffairs.ru/news/printable/37637. MGen Korotkov is Director of the Analytical Branch of the state-affiliated National Association for International Information Security. In fact, a Russian university textbook on PSYOP notes that those using “propaganda methods more frequently seek to deceive than to convince,” Sh. S. Suleimanova and E. A. Nazarova, Informatsionnye voiny (Moscow: Etnosotsium, 2017), 52.(heraefter Suleimanova and Nazarova, Informatsionnye voiny) Basically, the U.S. military views disinformation in similar terms, as “Carefully contrived misinformation prepared by an intelligence or CI [i.e. counterintelligence] service for the purpose of misleading, deluding, disrupting, or undermining confidence in individuals, organizations, or governments.” Defense Intelligence Agency, Terms & Definitions of Interest for DoD Counterintelligence Professionals, Office of Counterintelligence, Defense Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center (Washington, DC), 2 May 2011, 63, https://www.dni.gov/files/NCSC/documents/ci/CI_Glossary.pdf.
3. Lieutenant General D. A. Volkogonov, Psikhologicheskaya voina (Moscow: Voennoe Izdatel’stvo, 1983), 81. (hereafter Volkogonov, Psikhologicheskaya voina)
4. Michael Schwirtz, “Top Secret Russian Unit Seeking to Destabilise Europe, Security Officials Say,” The Independent (London), 9 October 2019, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-europe-defence-intelligence-spy-unit-29155-skripal-poisoning-a9148536.html; and Joe Cheravitch, “From Leaflets to ‘Likes,’” in Jeffrey Mankoff, ed., Improvisation and Adaptability in the Russian Military (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2020), 22-28.
5. Greg Miller and Catherine Belton, “Russia’s Spies Misread Ukraine and Misled Kremlin as War Loomed,” Washington Post, 19 August 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/russia-fsb-intelligence-ukraine-war; and Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, “From Bad Intel to Worse: Putin Reportedly Turns on FSB Agency That Botched Russia’s Ukraine Prep,” Meduza (Latvia), 11 March 2022, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/03/11/from-bad-intel-to-worse.
6. Anton Troianovski, Aric Toler, Julian E. Barnes, Christiaan Triebert, and Malachy Browne, “New Leaked Documents Show Broad Infighting Among Russian Officials,” New York Times, 13 April 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/world/europe/russia-intelligence-leaks.html.
7. Oleg Falichev, “Nam nuzhna odna pobeda -i na teatre voennykh deistvii, i na polyakh informatsionnoi voiny,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda (Moscow), 26 September 2022, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/2022921163-K05jx.html. (hereafter Falichev, “Nam nuzhna odna pobeda”)
8. For example, A. M. Il’nitskii, “Strategiya mental’noi bezopasnosti Rossii,” Voennaya Mysl’ (Moscow), 4 (2022), 24-35 (hereafter Il’nitskii, “Strategiya mental’noi bezopasnosti”); the chapter “Informatsionno-psikhologicheskie operatsii v sisteme khibridnykh voin,” in Informatsionno-psikhologicheskaya kognitivnaya bezopasnost’, eds. I. F. Kefel’ and R. M. Yusupova (Saint Petersburg: Petropolis, 2017), 59-73; and Colonel Gennadii Baburin, Ret., and Colonel Aleksandr Babintsev, “Rol’ material’no-tekhnicheskogo obespecheniya v vedenii mental’nykh voin,” Material’no-tekhnicheskoe obespechenie Vooruzhennykh Sil Rossiiskoi Federatsii (Moscow), 4 (2023), https://dzen.ru/a//ZCqnHCREJmUxs7Wn.
Falichev, “Nam nuzhna odna pobeda.”
9. A common Russian textbook on PSYOP, in fact, conceptualizes PSYOP campaigns in much the same way as in the West: “An information campaign is a stream of information planned with specific objectives and tasks, disseminated with the use of various means and channels of mass and individual communication … The basic motive for conducting an information campaign is the requirement to enhance support for the concrete objectives of political actors,” Suleimanova and Nazarova, Informatsionnye voiny, 58-59.
10. United States Department of State, Soviet Influence Activities: A Report on Active Measures and Propaganda, 1986-87 (Washington, DC: Department of State, 1987).
11. Nikolai Patrushev reported in Ivan Lindemann, “Beskontrol’noe rasshirenie seti biolaboratorii SShA u granits Rossii vyzvalo ozabochennost’ SK,” TV Zvezda, 6 September 2021, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/202196918-6kFNS.html.
12. For factual and analytical reference sources, see “Senior Defense Official Holds an Off-Camera Press Briefing,” U.S. Department of Defense, 10 March 2022, https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/2963333/senior-defense-official-holds-an-off-camera-press-briefing; U.S. Department of Defense, “Fact Sheet on WMD Threat Reduction Efforts with Ukraine, Russia and Other Former Soviet Union Countries,” 9 June 2022, https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3057517/fact-sheet-on-wmd-threat-reduction-efforts-with-ukraine-russia-and-other-former; and Robert Lawless, “Ukraine Symposium – Russia’s Allegations of U.S. Biological Warfare in Ukraine,” Lieber Institute, West Point, Part 1, 2 December 2022, https://lieber.westpoint.edu/russias-allegations-us-biological-warfare-ukraine-part-i; and Part 2, 9 December 2022, https://lieber.westpoint.edu/russias-allegations-us-biological-warfare-ukraine-part-ii.
13. David Vergun, “Russia and China Falsely Accusing Use of Biological Weapons Against Russians, Say Officials,” Department of Defense News, 10 March 2022, https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2963280/russia-and-china-falsely-accusing-use-of-biological-weapons-against-russians-sa. Also, National Research Council, The Biological Threat Reduction Program of the Department of Defense: From Foreign Assistance to Sustainable Partnerships (Washington, DC, National Academic Press, 2007); and The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, A Strategic Vision for Biological Threat Reduction: The U.S. Department of Defense and Beyond (Washington, DC: National Academic Press, 2020). On Ukraine, see Mary Beth D. Nikitin, Biological Security Engagement in Ukraine: U.S. Cooperation and Threat Reduction Programs (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, March 2022).
14. Yuliya Papsheva, “Koronavirus: biologicheskaya voina SShA protiv Rossii i Kitaya,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 29 January 2020, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/20201291341-AfMOx.html.; and Aleksandr Gorokhov, “Boevye virusy dlya Rossii s ‘bratskim’ privetom,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 13 July 2021, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/2021629124-yVqov.html. (hereafter Gorokhov, “Boevye virusy”)
15. Aleksandr Sadovnikov, “Otkroveniya bakteriologicheskikh mudretsov,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 13 October 2021, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/202110111518-MLxge.html. For an example of the Russian disinformation effort directed to the Arab world, see Norman Cigar “COVID-19 and the Arab World: Opportunity for Russian Anti-American Disinformation?” MES Insights, Vol. 11, Issue 2, The Krulak Center at the Marine Corps University (Quantico, VA), April 2020, https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/MES/Insights/MES%20Insights%20Volume%2011%20Issue%202%20April%202020.pdf?ver=2020-05-01-133622-630.
16. Gorokhov, “Boevye virusy.”
17. Irina Yarovaya cited in Yan Bratskii, “Yarovaya: pod vidom biolaboratorii na Ukraine sozdavalis’ i rabotali ob’ekty NATO,” TV Zvezda, 22 March 2023, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20233221229-dKitK.html.
18. In fact, Nikulin was tapped to develop the additional themes for the military that American BW activity in Ukraine contravened the UN’s international norms and that the United States conducted such experiments abroad because they were too dangerous to be done on U.S. soil. Interview by Yan Bratskii, “Ekspert ob’yasnil vozmozhnye posledstviya raboty biolaboratorii SShA na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 9 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022391221-KfdmP.html.
19. During the Cold War, Moscow had some success with disinformation where there was a more permissive media environment, including in the Third World, Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World (New York: Basic Books, 2005).
20. For an informative overview of Russian media capabilities, see Philip Seib, Information at War: Journalism, Disinformation, and Modern Warfare: Journalism, Disinformation, and Modern Warfare (Medford, MA: Polity Press, 2021), 115-50.
21. For example, the Arabic-language section claimed 5.2 million viewers on Twitter as of April 2022, RT in Arabic, https://twitter.com/RTarabic.
22. See Jessikka Aro, Putin’s Trolls: On the Frontlines of Russia’s Information War against the World (New York: Ig Publishing, 2022); David Klepper, “Russian Disinformation Spreading in New Ways Despite Bans,” Associated Press, 9 August 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-misinformation-european-union-government-and-politics-e5a1330e834fde428aab599b5c423530; David Klepper, “Experts: Russia Finding New Ways to Spread Propaganda Videos,” Associated Press, 5 October 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-technology-misinformation-0da59f7a72705c5f3fcdb59af1fc7af0; and Joseph Menn, “Russian Propagandists Are Using Twitter Verification to Appear Trustworthy,” Washington Post, 24 February 2023, A17.
23. U.S. Army, FM [Field Manual] 33-1, Psychological Operations (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1979), 12-7. Subsequently, the definition of theme became more anodyne: “An overarching subject, topic, or idea. Often comes from policy-makers and establishes the parameters for conducting PSYOP,” FM 3-05.30 Psychological Operations (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 2005), Glossary-20. Recent Army doctrinal documents have often treated “theme” as a self-explanatory professional concept with no need of definition.
24. LTG Igor’ Kirillov reported by in Anna Nezaikina and Nikolai Baranov, “Nachal’nik voisk RKhBZ RF: na Ukraine sformirovalas’ set’ biolaboratorii v ramkakh programm Pentagona,” TV Zvezda, 7 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022371636-vTURI.html. (hereafter Kirillov, “Nachal’nik voisk RKhBZ RF”)
25. Yuliya Kozak, reporting a briefing by LTG Igor’ Kirillov, “Proekty, kotorye Pentagon realizovyval podal’she ot SShA,” Krasnaya Zvezda, 11 March 2022, 5 (hereafter Kirillov, “Proekty, kotorye Pentagon realizovyval”); Yuliya Kozakov, “Besspornye fakty i dokazatel’stva biofabrik Pentagona,” Krasnaya Zvezda, 25 March 2022, https://redstar.ru/besspornye-fakty-i-dokazatelstva-biofabrik-pentagona; and LTG Igor’ Kirillov reported by Timur Sherzad and Nikolai Baranov, “V MO RF zayavili, chto podkontrol’nye SShA laboratorii s opasnymi patogenami rabotali v Kieve i Khar’kove,” TV Zvezda, 27 May 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20225271645-zYJ8t.html.
26. A “military expert,” Aleksei Leonkov, cited in Elizaveta Poteichuk, “Ekspert otsenil dannye o popytkakh sozdaniya biooruzhiya na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 6 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022362251-LszOh.html. (hereafter Poteichuk, “Ekspert otsenil dannye”)
27. LTG Igor’ Kirillov quoted in Leonid Tsvetaev, “Dorabotannyi shtamm i pobochnye effekty ot vaktsiny Pfizer. V chem Minoborony podozrevaet SShA,” Gazeta (Moscow), 7 April 2023, https://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2023/04/07/16523377.shtml.
28. MG Igor’ Konashenkov reported by Denis Ivlev, “Prestupnyi khod: v Minoborony raskryli prodrobnosti popytok sozdaniya na Ukraine biologicheskogo oruzhiya,” TV Zvezda, 7 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/202237923-zbb7K.html.
29. LTG Igor’ Kirillov cited in Andrei Arkad’ev and Nikolai Baranov, “V MO RF opublikovali dokument ob uchastii Pentagona v voenno-biologicheskikh proektakh na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 17 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223171528-UWPzz.html.
30. LTG Igor’ Kirillov reported by Yuliya Kozak, “Poligon SShA dlya razrabotki komponentov biologicheskogo oruzhiya,” Krasnaya Zvezda, 13 May 2022, http://redstar.ru/poligon-ssha-dlya-razrabotki-komponentov-biologicheskogo-oruzhiya (hereafter Kirillov, “Poligon SShA”); and Aleksandr Sadovnikov, “Morgellony pod-zvezdno-polosatym zhovtvo-blakitnym styagom,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 28 April 2022, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/20224261610-0LVbv.html.
31. “V MO RF svyazali smert’ Ugo Chavesa i voenno-biologicheskuyu deyatel’nost’ SShA,” TV Zevzda, 4 August 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022841556-44iCa.html.
32. Andrei Arkad’ev and Nikolai Baranov, “V MO RF sravnili biologicheskie issledovaniya SShA na Ukraine s rabotoi yaponskogo otryada 731,” TV Zvezda, 10 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223101623-oofpJ.html.
33. Aleksandar Tikhonov reporting a briefing by MG Igor’ Konashenkov, “Pariruem ugrozy mirovogo mashtaba,” Krasnaya Zvezda, 11 March 2022, 4.
34. Kirillov, “Proekty, kotorye Pentagon realizovyval,” 5.
35. Andrei Arkad’ev and Nikolai Baranov, “V MO RF zayavili, chto SShA provodili eksperimenty s koronavirusom letuchikh myshei v biolaboratoriyakh na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 10 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223101033-5fv9m.html.
36. Timur Sherzad and Nikolai Baranov reporting a briefing by LTG Igor’ Kirillov, “V MO RF zayavili o razrabotke kievskim rezhimom BPLA dlya primeneniya biooruzhiya protiv Rossii,” TV Zvezda, 31 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223311641-COrB0.html.
37. Yuliya Kozak reporting a briefing by LTG Igor’ Kirillov, “Bezchelovechnye eksperimenty Pentagona nad lyud’mi,” Krasnaya Zvezda, 15 April 2022, http://redstar.ru/beschelovechnye-eksperimeny-pentagona-nad-lyudmi. (hereafter Kirillov, “Bezchelovechnye eksperimenty Pentagona”)
38. Aleksei Kuril’chenko and Nikolai Baranov reporting a briefing by LTG Igor’ Kirillov, “MO RF: Ukraina interesuetsya razrabotkami SShA po dostavke biooruzhiya s pomoshch’yu Bairaktarov,” TV Zvezda, 3 September 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022931531-FWQDc.html.
39. Report of LTG Igor’ Kirillov briefing by Kristina Pastushkova, “Bezchelovechnye eksperimenty: kakie novye fakty o biolaboratoriyakh SShA na Ukraine predstavilo MO RF,” TV Zvezda, 17 June 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022617150-5eT3f.html.
40. Kirillov, “Bezchelovechnye eksperimenty Pentagona.”
41. Kirillov, “Poligon SShA.”
42. Ibid.
43. LTG Igor’ Kirillov briefing reported by Natal’ya Zhad’ko, “Biooruzhie SShA i vspyshki ptich’ego grippa: kakie novye dokumenty obnarodovalo MO RF,” TV Zvezda, 26 May 2023, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20235261336-xcY5r.html.
44. Kirillov, “Proekty, kotorye Pentagon realizovyval,” 5. Of course, “Slavic” or “Russian” denote linguistic and cultural markers rather than genetic entities, and today’s “Russian” individuals can be varying amalgams of numerous European and Asiatic origins.
45. “MO RF opublikovalo dokumenty o voenno-biologicheskoi deyatel’nosti Pentagona na Ukraine,” TV Zevzda, 24 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223241620-wH5UQ.html.
46. Poteichuk, “Ekspert otsenil dannye.”
47. Aleksandr Sadovnikov, “Geneticheskoe oruzhiye v ochumelykh ruchkakh Ameriki,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 9 June 2023, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/20235241154-MpG3N.html.
48. Magomed Radzhabov, “Etnicheskoe oruzhiye: pravda ili mif?” TrV-Nauka (Moscow), 3 May 2022, https://trv-science.ru/2022/05/etnicheskoe-oruzhie-pravda-ili-mif.
49. Andrei Arkad’ev and Sergei Aleksandrov, ”V MO RF raskryli imena zapadnykh kuratorov, zadeistvovannykh v realizatsii voenno-biologicheskikh programm na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 14 April 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20224141612-yTCt8.html; and Anna Nazaikina and Nikolai Baranov, “Minoborony Rossii opublikovalo kartu ukrainskikh laboratorii, vovlechennykh v voenno-biologicheskuyu deyatel’nost’ SShA,” TV Zvezda, 24 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223241520-grz6v.html.
50. Kirillov, “Poligon SShA.”
51. LTG Igor’ Kirillov quoted in “Kto boitsya yuridicheski obyazyvayushchego protokola,” Krasnaya Zvezda, 26 December 2022, 5.
52. “V Minoborony Rossii raskryli skhemy finansirovaniya biolaboratorii SShA na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 24 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223241557-nl68Z.htm; Andrei Arkad’ev and Nikolai Baranov, “MO RF poluchilo novye dannye o klyuchevykh figurakh voenno-biologicheskikh proektov SShA na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 30 January 2023, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2023130161-xcvVO.html; LTG Igor’ Kirillov reported in Anna Nazaikina and Nikolai Baranov, “V MO RF nazvali verkhom bezrassudstva raboty SShA po usileniyu patogennykh svoistv vozbuditelei,” TV Zvezda, 10 March 2023, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20233101519-k1oVc.html (hereafter Kirillov, “V MO RF nazvali verkhom bezrassudstva”); and Kirillov, “Poligon SShA.”
53. Andrei Arkad’ev and Nikolai Baranov, “MO RF prokommentirovalo Khantera Baidena po deyatel’nosti biolaboratorii SShA na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 31 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223311633-OqL1p.html. For a debunking of the Hunter Biden connection, see Bill McCarthy, “The Facts behind the Russian, Right-wing Narratives Claiming Hunter Biden Funded Biolabs in Ukraine,” PolitiFact, 1 April 2022, https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/apr/01/facts-behind-russian-right-wing-narratives-claimin.
54. LTG Igor’ Kirillov reported by Sergei Lebedev and Nikolai Baranov, “Minoborony Rossii: bioprogrammy SShA ne uluchshali sanepidemobstanovku na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 19 September 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20229191611-vNySb..html; and Yuliya Shatilova, “Pod zavesoi biologicheskoi tainy: shto svyazyvaet SShA, Ukrainu i vspyshku ospy obez’yan,” TV Zvezda, 22 May 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20225222219-ZUCKY.html. (hereafter Shatilova, “Pod zavesoi biologicheskoi tainy”)
55. Kirillov, “Nachal’nik voisk RKhBZ RF. Kirillov.”
56. LTG Igor’ Kirillov reported by Aleksei Kuril’chenko and Nikolai Baranov, “MO RF: u granitsy Rossii nakhoditsya bolee 50 podkontrol’nykh biolaboratorii Pentagona,” TV Zvezda, 3 September 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022931516-ktx46.html.
57. “V MO RF soobshchili o prioritete sibirskoi yazvy v biologicheskoi deyatel’nosti SShA na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 24 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223241530-AECw0.html.
58. Aleksei Kuril’chenko and Nikolai Baranov, “V MO RF svyazali deyatel’nost’ biolaboratorii SShA i nekharakternuyu vspysku bolezni v Khersone,” TV Zvezda, 17 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223171541-owCbb.html. (hereafter Kuril’chenko and Baranov, “V MO RF svyazali deyatel’nost’”)
59. “MO RF: SShA rassmatrivayut razvivayushchiesya strany kak poligon dlya ispitanii komponentov biooruzhiya,” TV Zvezda, 31 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223311644-kIPpn.html.
60. Kirillov, “Bezchelovechnye eksperimenty Pentagona.”
61. Aleksandr Sadovnikov, “Spetzsluzhby SShA gotovili na Ukraine geneticheskoe oruzhie ubiistva slavyan,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 18 April 2022, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/20224151521-gjKhe.html. (hereafter Sadovnikov, “Spetzsluzhby SShA gotovili na Ukraine”)
62. LTG Igor’ Kirillov quoted in Ivan Petrov, “Minoborony RF: Ukrainskim voennym v raiony boevykh zadach dostavlyayut morfin,” Rossiiskaya Gazeta (Moscow), 30 January 2023, https://rg.ru/2023/01/30/minoborony-rf-ukrainskim-voennym-v0rjony-boevyh-zadach-dostavliut-morfin.html.
63. “MO RF opublikovalo dokumenty o voenno-biologicheskoi deyatel’nosti Pentagona na Ukraine,” TV Zevzda, 24 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223241620-wH5UQ.html.
64. LTG Igor’ Kirillov briefing reported by Andrei Arkad’ev and Nikolai Baranov, “Biooruzhie SShA i vspyshki ptich’ego grippa: kakie novye dokumenty obnarodovalo MO RF,” TV Zvezda, 26 May 2023, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20235261336-xcY5r.html.
65. Ibid.
66. Speech by Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu at the conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, “Soznatel’noe zamedlenie operatsii na Ukraine i tsely SShA. Shto skazal Shoigu kollegam po ShOS,” TASS (Moscow), 24 August 2022, https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/15548829.
67. Reported by Andrei Arkad’ev and Nikolai Baranov, “V MO RF zayavili, chto ospa obez’yan zanesena iz Nigerii, gde rabotayut biolaboratorii SShA,” TV Zvezda, 27 May 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20225271647-BQdY1.html.
68. Kirillov, “V MO RF nazvali verkhom bezrassudstva.”
69. Kirillov, “Bezchelovechnye eksperimenty Pentagona.”
70. LTG Igor’ Kirillov reported by Leonid Tsvetaev, “Dorabotannyi shtamm i pobochnye effekty ot vaktsiny Pfizer. V chem Minoborony podozrevaet SShA,” Gazeta, 7 April 2023, https://www.gazeta.ru/politics/2023/04/07/16523377.shtml; and LTG Igor’ Kirillov, “MO RF: v SShA sozdali variant koronavirusa, vyzyvayushchii gibel’ 80% podopytnykh zhivotnykh,” TV Zvezda, 26 November 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/202211261520-97qzB.html.
71. LTG Igor’ Kirillov cited in Aleksandr Sadovnikov, “Moderna i Pfizer, chernye angely smerti,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 2 April 2023, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/20233131549-KMclq.html.
72. Igor’ Nikulin, formerly Russia’s representative on BW issues at the United Nations, cited in Shatilova, “Pod zavesoi biologicheskoi tainy.”
73. LTG Igor’ Kirillov cited in Timur Sherzad and Nikolai Baranov, “MO RF: biologicheskaya deyatel’nost’ SShA na Ukraine- ugroza regionam, kuda peredavalis’ obraztsy,” TV Zvezda, 24 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223241528-E9K44.html.
74. “Postpred RF: dokumenty potverzhdayut sobstvennuyu voenno-biologicheskuyu programmu FRG na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 31 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223312058-gUVqR.html.
75. “Vozmozhnoe proiskhozhdenie COVID i boevye stimulatory VSU: v MO RF obnarodovali novye dannye o biolaboratoriyakh SShA,” TV Zvezda, 5 August 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20228526-KLwqA.html.
76. MG Igor’ Konashenkov briefing, “Opublikovany dokumenty s podverzhdeniem zachistki voenno-biologicheskoi programmy SShA na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 6 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022361940-TyLRa.html.
77. LTG Igor’ Kirillov cited in “V MO RF zayavili, chto vse neobkhodimoe dlya realizatsii voenno-biologicheskoi programmy SShA vyvezeno iz Ukrainy,” TV Zvezda, 7 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022371638-rtKxU.html. MG Igor’ Konashenkov repeated this theme of destroyed evidence, “Prestupnyi khod: v Minoborony raskryli podrobnosti popytok sozdaniya na Ukraine biologicheskogo oruzhiya,” TV Zvezda, 7 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/202237923-zbb7K.html.
78. Kirillov, “Proekty, kotorye Pentagon realizovyval,” 5.
79. Sadovnikov, “Spetzsluzhby SShA gotovili na Ukraine.”
80. Kirillov, “Poligon SShA.”
81. LTG Igor’ Kirillov reported by Elizaveta Poteichuk and Nikolai Baranov, “Minoborony Rossii poluchilo bolee 20 tysyach dokumentov o voennoi bioprogramme SShA na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 30 January 2023, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20233131548-Z1bKg.html; and Andrei Arkad’ev and Nikolai Baranov, “MO RF: v Lisichanske obnaruzheno masshtabnoe zakhoronenie ostatkov biomaterialov,” TV Zvezda, 30 January 2023, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20231301541-xx8Vq.html.
82. See Kuril’chenko and Baranov, “V MO RF svyazali deyatel’nost’.”
83. For example, LTG Igor’ Kirillov referred to “the Bulgarian media” as the source of his claims, reported by Yuliya Kozakov, “Besspornye fakty i dokazatel’stva biofabrik Pentagona,” Krasnaya Zvezda, 25 March 2022, https://redstar.ru/besspornye-fakty-i-dokazatelstva-biofabrik-pentagona.
84. LTG Igor’ Kirillov reported by in Yuliya Kozak, “Poligon SShA dlya razrabotki komponentov biologicheskogo oruzhiya,” Krasnaya Zvezda, 13 May 2022, http://redstar.ru/poligon-ssha-dlya-razrabotki-komponentov-biologicheskogo-oruzhiya.
85. Aleksandar Tikhonov reporting a briefing by MGen Igor’ Konashenkov, “Pariruem ugrozy mirovogo mashtaba,” Krasnaya Zvezda, 11 March 2022, 1.
86. MG Igor’ Konashenkov reported in Denis Ivlev, “Prestupnyi khod: v Minoborony raskryli podrobnosti popytok sozdaniya na Ukraine biologicheskogo oruzhiya,” TV Zvezda, 7 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/202237923-zbb7K.html.
87. Kirillov, “Bezchelovechnye eksperimenty Pentagona.”
88. Kirillov, “Poligon SShA.”
89. Andrei Arkad’ev and Nikolai Baranov, “MO RF smoglo ostanovit’ realizatsiyu voenno-biologicheskikh programm SShA na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 30 January 2023, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20231301552-JvkEO.html.
90. As Russian military doctrine states, PSYOP consists of “The totality of capabilities and means (technologies) of open (or partially concealed) activities aimed at people’s minds, [which is] deployed during the conduct of combat (war) in order to achieve given objectives,” summary of a book by V. K. Prokof’ev, K probleme formirovaniya osnovnykh ponyatii v oblasti informatsionnoi bezopasnosti (Moscow: Tsentr voenno-strategicheskikh issledovanii General’nogo shtaba, 2004), https://flot.com/publications/books/shelf/safety.18.htm.
91. Andrei Manoilo quoted in Falichev, “Nam nuzhna odna pobeda.” Manoilo is also a member of the Scientific Council of the National Security Council. The study purports to examine U.S. PSYOP, using a surrogate technique often relied on in order to avoid publicizing one’s own country’s doctrine and thinking. Likewise, as a Russian academic specializing in PSYOP posited, “The basic objective of an informational-psychological conflict is to break the functioning of the command and control system of state institutions and individuals responsible for strategic decisionmaking,” Svyatoslav Neklyaev, “Informatsionno-psikhologicheskaya voina,” Uchitel’skaya Gazeta (Moscow), 10 January 2006, https://ug.ru/informaczionno-psihologicheskaya-vojna.
92. Volkogonov, Psikhologicheskaya voina, 82; and Colonel P. K. Loginov, “Informatsionno-psikhologicheskoe vozdeistvie v sovremennykh operatsiyakh,” Voennaya Mysl’, 5 (2022), https://zavtra.ru/books/informatcionno-psihologicheskoe_vozdejstvie_v_sovremennih_operatsiyah. (hereafter Loginov, “Informatsionno-psikhologicheskoe vozdeistvie”)
93. Andrei Il’nitskii, for example, believed that “everything that the United States is behind everything that is happening to Russia nowadays,” “Mental’naya voina za budushchee Rossii,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 21 April 2021, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/20214211636-jxgHZ.html.
94. Max Seddon, Christopher Miller, and Felicia Schwartz, “How Putin Blundered into Ukraine- Then Doubled Down,” Financial Times (London), 23 February 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/80002564-33e8-48fb-b734-44810afb7a49. Significantly, Andrei Il’nitskii believed that the West was “in a deep existential crisis,” with the “declining attractiveness of U.S. policy and of Western civilization as a whole,” “Politika obespecheniya bezopasnogo budushchego Rossii,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 18 December 2019, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/201912181333-eS0ty.html.
95. LTG Igor’ Kirillov reported by Andrei Arkad’ev and Nikolai Baranov, “V MO RF zayavili o neobkhodimosti mezhdunarodnogo rassledovaniya po istinnym tselyam biolaboratorii SShA,” TV Zvezda, 24 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20223241536-zPtJW.html.
96. Yurii Podolyaka cited in Dar’ya Volkova, “Kak Rossii ‘pereproshit’” massovoe soznanie ukraintsev,” Vzglyad (Moscow), 14 June 2022, https://vz.ru/world/2022/6/14/1162983.html.
97. Vladimir Eranosyan, “Ukrainskie grabli s kazakhskimi patogenami,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 28 June 2022, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/20226171014-NKmYK.html.
98. Loginov, “Informatsionno-psikhologicheskoe vozdeistvie.”
99. On Russia’s suspected BW capabilities, see Robert Petersen, “Fear and Loathing in Moscow: The Russian Biological Weapons Program in 2022,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (Chicago), 5 October 2022, https://thebulletin.org/2022/10/the-russian-biological-weapons-program-in-2022.
100. Loginov, “Informatsionno-psikhologicheskoe vozdeistvie;” and Colonel (Ret.) Gennadii N. Baburin and Colonel Aleksandr Babintsev, “Rol’ material’no-tekhnicheskogo obespecheniya v vedenii mental’nykh voin,” RITs Krasnaya Zvezda, 3 April 2023, https://dzen.ru/a/ZqnHCREJmUxs7Wn.
101. According to a U.S. doctrinal manual’s definition, a target audience is “An individual or group selected for influence or attack by means of Psychological Operations,” FM 3-05.301 Psychological Operations Process Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 2007), Glossary-10.
102. Aleksei V. Zabarin and Aleksandr Vatulin, “Psikhologicheskie osnovaniya informatsionnykh voin,” Informatsionnye Voiny (Moscow), 1, 45 (2018), 39. Zabarin teaches at the Military Institute of the country’s National Guard, the Rosgvardiya. Often, Russian studies use an equivalent term “target groups” (tselye gruppy), apparently a post-Soviet adaptation, Vladimir Krys’ko, Sekrety psikhologicheskoi voiny (tsely, zadachi, metody, formy, opyt) (Minsk: Oglavlenie, 1999), 9, 86, 206.
103. In the view of a prominent Russian expert on PSYOP, cultural characteristics of Americans that could be considered vulnerabilities in PSYOP campaigns included their alleged lack of sophistication and gullibility, lack of discipline, pronounced coarseness and boastfulness, and conceit and arrogance when dealing with members of different ethnicities, ibid. 78.
104. David Rising, “China Amplifies Unsupported Russian Claim of Ukraine Biolabs,” Associated Press, 11 March 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-covid-health-biological-weapons-china-39eeee023efdf7ea59c4a20b7e018169.
105. Jessica Brandt, Valerie Wirtschafter, and Adya Damaditya, “Popular Podcasters Spread Russian Disinformation about Ukraine Biolabs,” Brookings TechStream (Washington, DC), 23 March 2022, https://www.brookings.edu/techstream/popular-podcasters-spread-russian-disinformation-about-ukraine-biolabs; and Hailey Fuchs and Daniel Lippman, “Russia Continues Funding Media in the U.S.,” Politico (Arlington, VA), 27 October 2022, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2022/10/27/russia-continues-funding-media-in-the-us-00063885; Katie Balevic, “A Small Missouri Radio Station Is Airing a Russian Radio Program Full of Propaganda Amid the Invasion of Ukraine,” Business Insider (New York), 26 March 2022, https://www.businessinsider.com/missouri-radio-station-airs-russian-radio-program-full-propaganda-2022-3; and Hannah Getahun, “One of the Most Prolific Pro-Russia Propaganda Channels Is Run by a US Navy Veteran Living in Washington,” Business Insider, 16 April 2023, https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-propoganda-social-media-run-former-us-naval-officer-2023-4.
106. Aleksandr A. Smirnov, “Informatsionno-psikhologicheskaya voina: Ob odnom sredstve mezhdunarodnogo informatsionnogo protivoborstva,” Dictum et Factum (Moscow), 2013, 88.
107. In fact, entities connected to the Russian government had developed connections with lobbyists in the United States, Hailey Fuchs, “Russian Entities Kept D.C. Influence from Public View,” Politico, 23 March 2022, 16.
108. Dan De Luce and Ken Dilanian, “Before Arresting a U.S. Reporter, Russia Suffered Setbacks with Suspected Spies Unmasked by Western Governments,” NBC News, 31 March 2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/american-reporter-arrested-russia-suspected-spies-caught-rcna77503.
109. Peter Stone, “Russia Disinformation Looks to US Far Right to Weaken Ukraine Support,” The Guardian (London), 16 March 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/16/russia-disinformation-us-far-right-republicans-ukraine.
110. Aila Slisco, “QAnon Theory Says Trump, Putin Working Together to Destroy Fauci Labs,” Newsweek (New York), 4 March 2022, https://www.newsweek.com/qanon-theory-says-trump-putin-working-together-destroy-fauci-labs-1685105; and Donie O’Sullivan, “Biolabs: Russia and QAnon Have the Same False Conspiracy Theory about Ukraine,” CNN (Atlanta), 10 March 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/09/media/biolab-ukraine-russia-qanon-false-conspiracy-theory/index.html.
111. For example, “Exclusive: Biological Weapons Expert Exposes Labs in Ukraine and China Run by U.S. Government,” Alex Jones Show, InfoWars, 15 March 2022, https://www.infowars.com/posts/exclusive-biological-weapons-expert-exposes-labs-in-ukraine-and-china-run-by-u-s-government; and “US Resumes Construction of Biolabs in Ukraine, Russia Claims,” Alex Jones Show, InfoWars, 7 April 2023, https://www.infowars.com/posts/us-resumes-construction-of-biolabs-in-ukraine-russia-claims/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=ground.news. Jones had a significant audience in various media formats, which included radio and podcasts and, in April 2023, for example, there were 15.3 million hits on his website, Semrush, https://www.semrush.com/website/infowars.com/overview.
112. Reportedly, a leaked government memo instructed the Russian media to feature him prominently, David Corn, “Leaked Kremlin Memo to Russian Media: It Is ‘Essential’ to Feature Tucker Carlson’,” Mother Jones (San Francisco), 13 March 2022, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/03/exclusive-kremlin-putin-russia-ukraine-war-memo-tucker-carlson-fox.
113. Dmitrii Bavyrin, “Samyi vliyatel’nyi televedushchii SShA podygryvaet Rossii,” Vzglyad, 28 January 2022, https://vz.ru/world/2022/1/281140634.html.
114. For example, transcript “Tucker: The Pentagon Is Lying about Bio Labs in Ukraine,” Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox News (New York), 14 March 2022, https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-the-pentagon-is-lying-about-bio-labs-in-ukraine.
115. “Tucker: The Pentagon Is Lying about Bio Labs in Ukraine,” Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox News, 9 March 2022, https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-the-pentagon-is-lying-about-bio-labs-in-ukraine.
116. Ibid.
117. Transcript, Tucker Carlson Tonight program, Fox News, 29 March 2022, https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/tucker-cory-booker-invented-his-own-identity.
118. Derek Saul, “Tulsi Gabbard Latest to Push Russian-Backed Conspiracy About U.S.-Backed Biological Labs in Ukraine,” Forbes (Jersey City, NJ), 13 March 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/03/13/tulsi-gabbard-latest-to-push-russian-backed-conspiracy-about-us-backed-biological-labs-in-ukraine/?sh=4c491a7e5522; Konstantin Toropin, “Army Officer Tulsi Gabbard Faces Ire for Peddling Russian Disinformation About Ukraine Biolabs,” Military News (Weston, MA), 14 March 2022, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/03/14/army-officer-tulsi-gabbard-faces-ire-peddling-russian-disinformation-about-ukraine-biolabs.html; and Philip Giraldi, “And What About Those Biolabs?” The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity(Clute, TX), 29 March 2022, http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2022/march/29/and-what-about-those-biolabs.
119. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA), “America in Crisis,” Congressional Record 168 (2022), H3824. The bill was entitled the “Stopping the Spread of Taxpayer-Funded Bioweapons Act of 2022,” Congressional Record 168 (2022), https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/BILLS-117hr7125ih/summary.
120. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in a conversation with Elon Musk, broadcast on Twitter, “Reclaiming Democracy,” 5 June 2023, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1665784889008873476. As of 8 June 2023, the tweet had been viewed by 31.9m people.
121. “Kak v mire obvinyayut SShA v opasnoi biologicheskoi deyatel’nosti,” RT (Moscow), 25 July 2022, https://russian.rt.com/world/article/1029649-biolaboratorii-ssha.
122. Aleksandr Sadovnikov, “Amerike srochno nuzhna operatsiya Prikrytie,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 18 March 2022, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/20223141452-b5Dra.html.
123. LTG Igor’ Kirillov reported by Timur Sherzad and Nikolai Baranov, “MO RF: vyyavlennaya v khode spetsoperatsii voenno-biologicheskaya deyatel’nost’ SShA privela k protestam v mire,” TV Zvezda, 4 August 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022841548-c9lt2.html.
124. Briefing by LTG Kirillov, Ministry of Defense transcript, VK (Saint Petersburg), 9 October 2023, https://vk.com/wall-133441491_961271.
125. “Pekin prizval Vashington obnarodovat’ dannye o biolaboratoriyakh na Ukraine,” TV Zvezda, 8 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022381322-34S6B.html.
126. The Russian media seemed eager to showcase any response even while patronizing American individuals who cooperated, as when calling Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene an “aggressive blondie,” despite recognizing the objective utility of her positions to Russian interests, Dmitrii Bavyri, “Agressivnaya blondinka stala golosom razuma v SShA,” Vzglyad, 18 May 2022, https://vz.ru/world/5/18/1158847.html.
127. Ivan Sysoev, “Amerikanskii zhurnalist shokirovan informatsiei o biolaboratoriyakh SShA na Ukraine,” Rossiiskaya Gazeta, 10 March 2022, https://rg.ru/2022/03/10/amerikanskij-zhurnalist-shokirovan-informaciej-o-biolaboratoriiah-ssha-na-ukraine.html; “Taker Karlson na Russkom” channel, “Te samye biolaboratorii,” Szen Video (Moscow), 11 March 2022, https://dzen.ru/video/watch/62382d6583d30921350c26d3; and Fox News rebroadcast: “Laboratorii SShA na Ukraine zanimalis’ biooruzhiem, i syn Baidena mozhet byt’ k etomu prichasten,” InoTv (Moscow), 25 March 2022, https://russian.rt.com/inotv/2022-03-25/Fox-News-laboratorii-SSHA-na?utm_source=smi2.That That episode, translated into Russian, garnered 1.5 million views on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAtL37g0iWA. The state-run Russia Today (RT) conglomerate, in fact, has the InoSMI and InoTV channels that monitor the foreign media, and translate and rebroadcast items it deems appropriate, which the rest of the Russian media can then also use, https://inosmi.ru and https://russian.rt.com/inotv.
128. Anna Beloustseva, “Kritik Dzho Baidena i Ukrainy stal samym vliyatel’nym zhurnalistom v SShA,” Rossiiskaya Gazeta, 18 December 2022, https://rg.ru/2022/12/18/karlson-vse-vyshe.html?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=desktop.
129. “Kennedi-mladshii zayavil o razbrosannykh po vsmeu miru biolaboratoriyakh SShA,” Izvestiya, 6 June 2023, https://iz.ru/1524044/2023-06-06/kennedi-mladshii-zaiavil-o-razbrosannykh-po-vsemu-miru-biolaboratoriiakh-ssha; and “Robert Kennedy Jr. Acknowledges US Has Biolabs in Ukraine,” TASS in English, 5 June 2023, https://tass.com/society/1628133. At times, Russia repackaged Kennedy’s statements in its foreign-language media, as in that intended for the Arab world, to serve as “confirmation” of Moscow’s BW claims, “Robert Kennedy ya’tarif bi-wujud mukhtabarat amrikiyya fi Ukraniya,” RT in Arabic, 5 June 2023, https://ar.rt.com/vg5u.
130. Stanislav Barzyakov, “Vyyavleno istinnoe otnoshenie amerikantsev k Ukraine,” Vzglyad, 16 May 2022, https://vz.ru/world/2022/5/16/1158056,html.
131. Alexandra Saviana, “Pro-Poutine, antivax … Yves Pozzo di Borgo, de sénateur centriste à complotiste acharné,” L’Express (Paris), 23 June 2022, https://www.lexpress.fr/societe/pro-poutine-antivax-yves-pozzo-di-borgo-de-senateur-centriste-a-complotiste-acharne_2175676.html; Rick Noack, “French Presidential Candidate Calls for NATO to Reconcile with Russia,” Washington Post, 14 April 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/14/le-pen-nato-russia-france-rapprochement; and Maxime Macé and Pierre Plotu, “L’extrême droite française se fracture sur le front ukrainien,” StreetPress (Paris), 1 March 2022, https://www.streetpress.com/sujet/1646068044-extreme-droite-francaise-fracture-front-ukrainien-zemmour-le-pen-poutine.
132. Yan Bratskii, “Na Zapade osoznali neobkhodimost’ poiska kompromissa s Rossiei,” TV Zvezda, 4 June 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/202264162-5TJxV.html; “Le Pen zayavila, chto v sluchae pobedy na vyborakh vyvedet Frantsiyu iz komandovaniya NATO,” TASS, 13 April 2022, https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panrama/14368357; and Evgeniya Kondakova, “Marine Le Pen: politik, govoryashchaya pravdu o Kryme, Ukraine i Zelenskom,” Ukraina.ru (Moscow), 15 April 2022, https://ukraina.ru/exclusive/20220415/1033778197.html.
133. Gennadii Inishchenko, “Bespardonnaya lozh’: Inishchenko raskritikoval slova Bernsa ob otsutstvii biolaboratorii SShA na Ukraine,” Federal’noe Agenstvo Novostei (Moscow), 5 July 2022,https://riafan.ru/23520802-bespardonnaya_lozh_onischenko_raskritikoval_slova_bernsa_ob_otsutstvii_biolaboratorii_ssha_na_ukraine.
134. For example, “SShA otritsayut nalichie na Ukraine kontroliruemykh imi khimicheskikh i biologicheskikh laboratorii,” TASS, 10 March 2022, https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama14017987; “MID RF: SShA pytayutsya vbrosami skryt’ svoyu deyatel’nost’ na postsovetskom prostranstve,” TASS, 12 June 2022, https://tass.ru/politika/14891319; and “Chto izvestno o biolaboratoriyakh Pentagona za predelami SShA,” TASS, 11 April 2023, https://tass.ru/info/1795041.
135. “V MO RF predupredili, chto SShA budut podstraivat’ mekhanizmy Konventsii po biooruzhiyu pod sebya,” TV Zvezda, 18 September 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022919168-wwo9s.html.
136. Reported in “MO RF: voenno-biologicheskaya deyatel’nost’ SShA na Ukraine vyzyvaet voprosy u ikh soyuznikov,” TASS, 22 November 2022, https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/16433727.
137. LTG Igor’ Kirillov, “Minoborony Rossii regulyarno publikuyet novye dokumenty kasatel’no biologicheskikh issledovanii Pentagona,” TV Zvezda, 13 November 2023, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/202311131342-QgnFj.html.
138. Ilya Tsukanov, “Little-Known Facts About Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops,” Sputnik International in English, 13 November 2023, https://sputnikglobe.com/20231113/untold-heroism-of-russias-radiological-chemical-and-biological-defense-troops-1114908415.html.
139. Thomas Rid, Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2020), 433. (hereafter Rid, Active Measures)
140. “Russia Blocks Access to BBC and Voice of America Websites,” Reuters (London), 4 March 2022,
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/russia-restricts-access-bbc-russian-service-radio-liberty-ria-2022-03-04; and Shannon Bond and Bobby Allyn, “Russia Is Restricting Social Media,” National Public Radio (Washington, DC), 21 March 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/03/07/1085025672/russia-social-media-ban.
141. Nevertheless, a former general of the FSB judged that for Russians “much of what comes from official sources and what experts say is received with diffidence,” interview with Major General (Ret.) Aleksandr Mikhailov by Anna Cherkasova, “Pochemu ne blokiruyut Wikipaedia, a VSU voyuyut na rossiiskom benzine,” Ukraina.ru (Moscow), 1 February 2023, https://ukraina.ru/20230201/1043142394.html.
142. Sergei Lebedev, “V Rossii razrabotali printsipial’no novye antidoty k otravlyayushchim veshchestvam,” TV Zvezda, 15 June 2023, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2023615121-XkQ1O.html; and Timur Sherzad and Nikolai Baranov, “Virusolog Chepurnov rasskazal, kak nasekomye mogut pomoch’ primenyat’ biooruzhie,” TV Zvezda, 19 June 2023, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20236191647-JlFSo.html.
143. “UN Still Sees No Sign of Biological Weapons in Ukraine,” UN News (New York), 27 October 2022, https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129952.
144. She also noted that “It doesn’t matter how many meetings Russia tries to call on this subject. And it doesn’t matter how hard it ratchets up its propaganda machine. We must not divert UN resources toward a baseless investigation,” ibid.
145. Christopher Paul and Miriam Matthews, The Russian “Firehose of Falsehood” Propaganda Model: Why It Might Work and Options to Counter It (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2016), 6. (hereafter Paul and Matthews, The Russian “Firehose of Falsehood”)
146. Suleimanova and Nazarova, Informatsionnye voiny, 61.
147. See Mary Manjikian, “Not Your Father’s Disinformation: Emerging Technology, Social Media Advances, and the Growth of Smart Disinformation,” Journal of Peace and War Studies, 4 (2022), 130-47.
148. Herbert Romerstein, The World Peace Council and Soviet “Active Measures” (Washington, DC: The Hale Foundation, [1983]); Alexander R. Alexiev, The Soviet Campaign Against INF: Strategy, Tactics, Means (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 1985); and the insightful work by Rid, Active Measures, 255-97.
149. For example, LTG Igor’ Kirillov, “Pod predlogom obespecheniya global’noy biobezopasnosti,” Krasnaya Zvezda, 13 March 2023, 4; and LTG Igor’ Kirillov, ”MO RF soobchilo ob opasnykh eksperimentoakh SShA nad ukraintsami v zone SVO,” TV Zvezda, 11 December 2023, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/202312111810-cHcB5.html.
150. LTG Kirillov, “Brifing nachal’nika Voisk radiatsionnoi, khimicheskoi i biologicheskoi zashchity BS RF,” 6 September 2023, Telegraph (Moscow), https://telegra.ph/Brifing-nachalnika-vojsk-radiacionnoj-himicheskoj-i-biologicheskoj-zashchity-VS-RF-general-lejtenanta-Igoriya-Kirillova-po-voenno-09-06; LTG Kirillov briefing reported by andrei Arkad’ev and Nikolai Baranov, “SShA vyvodyat bioissledovanniya dvoinogo naznacheniya v afriku,” TV Zvezda, 9 October 2023, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/20231091145-8a5Y4.html; and “Brifing nachal’nika voisk RHB zashchity VS RF general-leitenanta Igor’ya Kirillova po voenno-biologicheskoi deyatel’nosti SShA,” Russian Ministry of Defense website, 31 October 2023,
https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12483506@egNews.
151. Jon White, Dismiss, Distort, Distract, and Dismay: Continuity and Change in Russian Disinformation, Institute for European Studies (Brussels), Policy Brief, n. 13, May 2016, http://aei.pitt.edu/77604.
152. Paul and Matthews, The Russian “Firehose of Falsehood”, 6.
153. Vladimir Putin speech “Podpisanie dogovorov o prinyatii DNR, LNR, Zaporozhski i Khersonskoi oblastei v sostav Rossii,” President Putin website, 30 September 2022, http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69465.
154. Significantly, when the U.S. Army’s PSYOP was reprofessionalized following the Vietnam War, under the guidance of Colonel Alfred Paddock, a visionary in the field, he did so by developing PSYOP regional “think tanks” to support operations. At the heart of that effort was the hiring of civilian academics with a knowledge of foreign languages and of social science research methods, and with experience in-country, who could produce intelligence-based analyses to guide the planner and operator.
155. Il’nitskii, “Strategiya mental’noi bezopasnosti,” 26; and Andrei M. Il’nitskii, “Politika obespecheniya bezopasnogo budushchego Rossii,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 18 December 2019, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/201912181333-eS0ty.html; and Il’nitskii, “Strategiya mental’noi bezopasnosti,” 26.
156. Andrei M. Il’nitskii,”Gosudarstvo kak tsel’” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 21 April 2023, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/2023420186-X6STP.html.
157. Pavel Remnev, “Evropa khochet deeskalatsii: pochemu Zapad nachal otvorachivat’tsya ot Ukrainy,” TV Zvezda, 6 March 2022, https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022361821-Z8Kds.html; and Petr Akopov, “Nastuplenie Rossii i novogo mira,” RIA (Moscow), 26 February 2022, https://ria.ru/20220226/rossiya-1775162336.html. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, likewise, stressed putative U.S.-European differences and claimed that Washington’s intent with promoting sanctions was to “de-industrialize the European economy” and to weaken Europe militarily, interview for the documentary “Mir na grani. Uroki Karibskogo krizisa,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, 30 October 2022, https://www.mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1835806.
158. Rostislav Ishchenko, “Tsivilizatsiya protiv varvarov: territorial’naya imperiya protiv rasovoi,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 5 July 2022, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/2022629949-IXdWw.html.
159. Igor’ Pshenichinikov, “Protokoly globalisticheskikh mudretsov,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 24 December 2023, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/2023/12131651-CR0a2.html.
160. Sergei Naryshkin, “Direktor SVR Rossii Sergei Naryshkin o spetsial’noi voennoi operatsii na Ukraine,” Foreign Intelligence Service website (Moscow), 3 March 2022, http://srv.gov.ru/smi/2022/03/direktor-svr-rossii-sergey-naryshkin-o-spetsialnoy-voennoy-operatsii-na-ukraine-.htm; and Sergei Naryshkin, “Sovremennaya mezhdunarodnaya voenno-politicheskaya situatsiya i tendentsii ee razvitiya,” Foreign Intelligence Service website, 7 April 2022, http://svr.gov.ru/smi/2022/04/sovremennaya-mezhdunarodnaya-voenno-politicheskaya-situatsiya-i-tendentsii-ee-razvitiya.htm. Among the numerous insightful dissections of Russian intelligence failures related to the Ukraine situation see Greg Myre, “Stalled and Frustrated, Putin Will Likely ‘Double Down’ in the Coming Weeks, CIA Says,” National Public Radio, 8 March 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/03/08/1085155440/cia-director-putin-is-angry-and-frustrated-likely-to-double-down; Greg Sargent, “How Putin Badly Misjudged the West, as Explained by a Russia Expert,” Washington Post, 24 March 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/24/putin-misjudged-west-ukraine-timothy-snyder; and Michael R. Gordon, Bojan Pancevski, Noemie Bisserbe, and Marcus Walker, “Putin Targeted Ukraine for Years. Why Didn’t the West Stop Him?” Wall Street Journal (New York), 2-3 April 2022, C1-C3.
161. The Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitrii Medvedev, Telegram, 14 July 2022, https://t.me/s/medvedev_telegram; and Oleg Ladogin, “Zapadnyi mir v periode poluraspada,” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 30 May 2023, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/20235251436-1jyTp.html; and Nikolai Patrushev who, in addition, saw the world as dominated by a neo-colonial rapacious West bent on ending other countries’ independence, and on imposing its values and promoting humankind’s “improvement” via genetic modification, “Krakh imperii-parazitov,” Razvedchik (Moscow), September 2023, 2-9. Razvedchik is the Foreign Intelligence Service’s professional journal.
162. Medvedev’s Telegram account, 14 July 2022, https://t.me/s/medvedev_telegram.
163. Igor’ Pshenichnikov, “Trampa ‘topyat’: Gryadet grazhdanskaya voina?” Ezhenedel’nik Zvezda, 25 August 2022, https://zvezdaweekly.ru/news/2022/8181113-JS2Ha.html.
164. Paul Sonne, Ellen Nakashima, Shane Harris, and John Hudson, “Misconceptions Clouded Russian View of Ukraine,” Washington Post, 13 April 2022, A1, A9; and Greg Miller and Catherine Belton, “Russia’s Spies Misread Ukraine and Misled Kremlin as War Loomed,” Washington Post, 19 August 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/russia-fsb-intelligence-ukraine-war.
165. Brian Murphy, “the identity of the content originator is intentionally masked,” U.S. Senate, Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Statement for the Record by Brian Murphy, September 11, 2023,
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Murphy-Testimony.pdf; also see Rid, Active Measures, passim.
166. Gregory Eady et al, “Exposure to the Russian Internet Research Agency Foreign Influence Campaign on Twitter in the 2016 US Election and Its Relationship to Attitudes and Voting Behavior,” Nature Communications, 14, 62 (9 January 2023), https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-35576-9.
167. Sophie Tanno, “Russian FM’s False Claim about Ukraine War Draws Laughter from Crowd,” CNN, 4 March 2023, https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-03-04-23/h_93f06088d5f6b6df257fe99495e4fe58.
168. Aaron Erlich and Calvin Garner, “Is Pro-Kremlin Disinformation Effective? Evidence from Ukraine,” The International Journal of Press/Politics, 28, 1 (2023), 5-28. Anyhow, Russian military sources were skeptical of reaching Ukrainian audiences, claiming they had been so thoroughly conditioned for 30 years that it would require at least a generation to “de-nazify” them. A. M. Il’nitskii and A. Yu. Shkol’nikov, “Sila v pravde,” Veteranskie Vesti (Moscow), 12 May 2022, https://vvesti.com/politika/sila-v-pravde.
169. Carl von Clausewitz, On War, ed. and trans. Michael Howard and Peter Paret (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989), 75, 77.
170. Megan Ward, Shannon Pierson, and Jessica Beyer, Formative Battles: Cold War Disinformation Campaigns and Mitigation Strategies, Science Technology Innovation Program (Washington, DC: Wilson Center, 2019), 7; Terry L. Thompson, “No Silver Bullet: Fighting Russian Disinformation Requires Multiple Actions,” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 21 (Fall 2020), 182-94; and Fletcher Schoen and Christopher J. Lamb, Deception, Disinformation, and Strategic Communications: How One Interagency Group Made a Major Difference (Washington, DC: National Defense University, 2012).
171. John Lenczowski, “Soviet Disinformtion: An Overview,” in Winifred Meiselman et al, “Soviet Disinformation and the News,” The Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, October 1985, 6.
172. Nandita Bose, “How the Biden White House Is Fighting Russian Disinformation,” Reuters, 4 March 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/how-biden-white-house-is-fighting-russian-disinformation-2022-03-04.
173. Global Engagement Center website, https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-public-diplomacy-and-public-affairs/global-engagement-center.
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Norman Cigar
Norman Cigar retired as Director of Regional Studies at the Marine Corps University, Quantico, VA, where he had also taught military theory, operational case studies, strategy & policy, nuclear war, and low-intensity conflict at the Command and Staff College and at the School of Advanced Warfighting. In an earlier assignment in the Pentagon, he was responsible for the Middle East in the Office of the Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, and was manager of the Secretary of the Army’s Intelligence Briefing, as well as representing the Army in the interagency intelligence community. Before that, he had been in charge of the Army’s Psychological Operations Strategic Studies Detachment for the Middle East and Africa at Fort Bragg, where he supervised a team of civilian academics and military personnel producing in-depth research studies supporting fielded forces, and where he interacted with the intelligence and policy communities at the national level. Dr. Cigar holds a DPhil from Oxford (St Antony’s College); an M.I.A. from the School of International and Public Affairs and a Certificate from the Middle East Institute, Columbia University; and an M.S. in Strategic Intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College (Focus on the Soviet Union).