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.
British Commentators Promote Pro-Russian Conspiracy Theories on Iranian State-Backed Media
Prominent British pundits David Miller and Chris Williamson have parlayed accusations of antisemitism into media careers on Tehran’s top English-language propaganda channel. “In this episode of Palestine Declassified, we’ll trace the national origin [...]
How Yandex Has Featured the Bombing of the Bridge to Crimea
Russia has blamed Ukrainian intelligence for the October 8 blast that partially collapsed the Kerch Bridge that connects Crimea to the Russian mainland. Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a “terrorist attack” and promised swift reprisals. Tr [...]
Hamilton Toplines: October 5–11, 2022
Russia Monitored Russian accounts tweeted 11,856 times from October 5 to October 11, generating 200,189 retweets and 626,538 likes. Russian state media and diplomats last week provided extensive coverage of the Crimean bridge explosion on October 8, [...]
Laura Thornton Breaks Down the State of US Democracy and Foreign Policy on Background Briefing with Ian Masters
Background Briefing with Ian Masters · October 13, 2022 - Norman Ornstein | Adele Stan | Laura Thornton An Analysis of Today's Final House January 6 Committee Hearing | Who Did Liz Cheney Have in Mind When She Said "We Have Enough Information For [...]
Laura Thornton Analyzes Backsliding Democracies and Rising Autocracies in Europe with the National Committee on American Foreign Policy
In its 2022 Nations in Transit report, Freedom House observed an ongoing 18-year decline of democracies in Central Europe and Eurasia. With the electoral victories of the Brothers of Italy and the Sweden Democrats, both far-right parties with neo-fa [...]
ASD at GMF Experts React to Biden’s National Security Strategy
Yesterday, the Biden administration released its National Security Strategy, which focuses on the competition between democracy and autocracy, lays out threats coming from Russia and China, and notes that the US must both strengthen democracy at hom [...]
Laura Thornton in Foreign Policy: Kremlin Talking Points Are Back in the US Debate
When Tesla chief executive Elon Musk tweeted his support for Russia’s dismemberment of Ukraine, he used some highly revealing language. Crimea should be Russian, he tweeted, because of “Krushchev’s mistake”—a reference to Soviet leader Nikita Krushc [...]
Hamilton Toplines: September 28–October 4, 2022
Russia Russian diplomats and state media last week tweeted 18,327 times, generating 266,201 retweets and 836,310 likes. Kremlin-affiliated accounts last week made a concerted push to amplify a conspiratorial speech given by President Vladimir Putin, [...]
A Look Into Russia’s Propaganda about the Nord Stream Explosions
Overview On September 26, a series of blasts ripped through the Nord Stream pipelines, which carry gas from Russia to Europe. NATO called the explosions “deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage” and expressed support for investigati [...]
Hamilton Toplines: Sept 21–27, 2022
Russia Monitored Russian accounts last week tweeted 19,668 times, generating 224,448 retweets and 687,480 likes. On Tuesday, Kremlin-orchestrated referendums in occupied areas of Ukraine laid a pretext for Russia to announce the annexation of larg [...]
A Look Into Russian Propaganda on Referendums in Ukraine
Overview On Tuesday, Kremlin-staged referendums in occupied areas of Ukraine laid the groundwork for Russia to announce the annexation of roughly 15 percent of Ukraine’s territory. A large-scale propaganda push accompanied these widely discredited [...]
Lindsay Gorman in Lawfare: Why Biden and Blinken Are Backing a Candidate for a Little-Known UN Internet Agency
A little-known U.N. agency that develops worldwide technical standards for the internet will gain unfamiliar geopolitical attention as scientists, engineers, and government officials descend on Bucharest, Romania, this week. On Thursday, government [...]