Russia has long been waging operations against democracies using all of the asymmetric tools ASD tracks—information manipulation, cyberattacks, malign finance, civil society subversion, and state economic coercion. The Kremlin’s geographic scope in conducting operations to undermine democracy continues to expand and its tactics continue to evolve. Find ASD’s work on Russia’s attempts to interfere in democracies on this page.
Interference Matters
Catch Me If EU Can: How RT and Sputnik Evade EU Content Bans
Kristine Berzina on PRX: What Happens to European Energy Supplies if Russia Invades Ukraine?
Much of Europe's energy comes in the form of natural gas piped in from Russia. If infrastructure in Ukraine is damaged in a conflict, or Russia withholds supplies in response to sanctions, Europe could see energy prices skyrocket even more, or face [...]
How is Russia Covering the Crisis in Ukraine?
For months, Russian propagandists have been preparing for a potential war by framing Ukraine and the West as aggressors. We compiled data from our weekly Hamilton 2.0 reports to shine a light on how Russian officials and state media have messaged ar [...]
Kristine Berzina Explains Why Natural Gas is a Factor in Pushback against Russia on WBUR
Here & Now's Scott Tong speaks with Russia expert Kristine Berzina about why European dependence on Russian natural gas—and the not-yet-operational Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany—have made it harder for NATO allies to [...]
Kristine Berzina Discusses Russia’s Energy Dominance Over Europe on Fox Business
Republicans argue President Vladimir Putin is trying to get the region more hooked on Russian fuel. ASD Senior Fellow speaks to FOX Business' Hillary Vaughn. [...]
Joseph Bodnar in Inkstick: Russia’s Pursuit of Pretext in Ukraine
Russia’s campaign to justify an increasingly likely invasion of Ukraine became more blatant over the past few weeks. Moscow has used diplomacy, disinformation, and cyber operations to set the stage for a Kremlin-directed provocation that could be de [...]
Hamilton Toplines: January 17–23, 2022
Russia Russian officials and state media last week framed the West as being solely responsible for increasing the chance of war in Ukraine. RT, Sputnik, and others closely followed shipments of Western military aid to the country. Foreign Ministry s [...]
Kristine Berzina, ASD Senior Fellow, Talks to BBC About Increasing Russia-Ukraine Tensions
Kristine Berzina, senior fellow and head of geopolitics at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, joined BBC News to discuss increasing Russia-Ukraine tensions on Saturday, January 22. [...]
The Development Response to Kleptocracy and Strategic Corruption
Introduction and Summary Kleptocracies do not stop at their own borders. The same actors, networks, tactics, and resources that they wield to prevent democracy and rule of law from sprouting at home are also repurposed for foreign aggression. Whil [...]
Hamilton Toplines: January 10–16, 2022
Russia Russian officials and state media last week focused on three rounds of high-level diplomatic meetings between Russia and the West. Kremlin-linked accounts gave live updates of U.S.-Russia talks in Geneva on January 10. State media complained [...]
ASD Hamilton Data Covered Exclusively in Foreign Policy: Russian Propagandists Zero In on Kazakh Crisis
Intense interest by diplomats and state media underscores the significance of Russia’s intervention. Russian propaganda accounts on Twitter went into overdrive this month as troops from a Russian-led regional security organization were dispatched t [...]
Are Russia and China Teaming Up Against America in a Global Information War? Yes and No.
The Kremlin and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as constant critics of the United States, naturally converge in the information space. The themes and narratives they disseminate about the United States and Western democracies show remarkable cons [...]
Kristine Berzina on U.S. Discussions Over Sanctioning Nord Stream 2 on CNBC
ASD Senior Fellow Kristine Berzina says the Biden administration doesn’t want to be pushed into sanctioning Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline as leverage against Russia over the Ukraine crisis. [...]