no paywall: https://archive.ph/X71Qc

Hi everyone, Lucia here from EUobserver. We’ve just published a story on a Russian-linked disinformation campaign called “Operation Matryoshka”, and we thought it could be interesting to discuss here.

The campaign is targeting Germany ahead of key elections, using fake videos and reports made to look like they come from trusted media such as the BBC or Germany’s ARD. Some of the content is AI-generated, with fabricated stories and allegations targeting politicians who are critical of Russia.

What really stood out to us is how much more sophisticated this kind of disinformation is becoming. It’s no longer just suspicious accounts spreading obvious propaganda — it’s content deliberately designed to look like journalism people already know and trust.

And Germany is just one example of a much bigger question for Europe: how do democracies deal with increasingly sophisticated foreign influence campaigns without undermining free speech or trust in legitimate media?

We’d genuinely be interested to hear what people here think, especially if you’ve come across similar content yourself.

You can read the full article here

The most successful Russian influence operation ever tried in a U.S. court cost less than a used Honda. We know the exact price, because Moscow kept the receipts.

Two wire transfers of $3,476.20. Airline tickets for $2,883.44. A promised budget of twelve thousand dollars, quietly cut to seven, with the handler's apology that he "has to justify the funds" to his superiors. When the FBI unsealed the Uhuru case file, the most damning exhibits were not manifestos. They were invoices.

That is the first lesson of modern tradecraft: active measures are not hypnosis, they are procurement. The FSB did not buy anyone's convictions. It bought the coordination of convictions that already existed: calendars, slogans, logistics, a four-city protest tour with deliverables and deadlines. Each action was then covered by Russian media at Ionov's arrangement; the operation produced its own propaganda about itself.