The Russia connectionRussia Using COVID-19 Disinformation, Conspiracy Theories to “Subvert the West”: Repot

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his administration are using the coronavirus crisis to spread conspiracy theories in a bid to “subvert the West” and create a new world order, a new report has charges.

The report’s author, Sergey Sukhankin, said Russia was propagating disinformation and conspiracy theories via social media accounts, fake news outlets, state-controlled media, pseudo-scientists and Russians living in the West. The Kremlin has previously denied such claims.

“Putin’s larger goal in spreading propaganda and conspiracy theories is to subvert the West,” Sukhankin said.

“Russia seeks to seriously damage the solidarity among EU members and capitalize on any internal European weaknesses to promote broader conflicts. COVID-19 is seen as an ideal way for Russia to deal a powerful blow not only to the EU, but to inflict damage on the ties between Europe and its North American allies.”

The report is titled COVID-19 as a Tool of Information Confrontation: Russia’s Approach. Here are the Summary and Conclusion sections of the report:

Summary
As the rest of the world struggles to cope with COVID-19, Russia is churning out propaganda that blames the West for creating the virus. Propaganda is, of course, nothing new for Russia; such practices have a long history dating back to the Soviet era.

What’s different now, though, is that with the internet and social media, Russia has many more ways to propagate fake news and conspiracy theories, and to reach susceptible audiences both inside and outside the country. Russia is using social media accounts, fake news outlets, state-controlled global satellite media, bloggers, pseudo-scientists and supposed scholars, experts and Russians living in the West to disseminate its lies and distortions.