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Securing Democracy Dispatch
Our Takes In an analysis of RT and Sputnik posts on Telegram and X in 2024, ASD found 308 links to mirror websites, podcasts, or proxy accounts that allowed them to circumvent EU bans and continue reaching European audiences. “A complete ban is impossible”, but “staying vigilant and close to the target is the best tactic”, Open-Source Intelligence Analyst Larissa Doroshenko assesses. Russian military bloggers responded to Ukraine’s large-scale covert drone attack on Russian capabilities with criticism of Russia’s military bureaucracy and information response, as well as calls for retaliation and abandonment of peace negotiations, Doroshenko writes. Hamilton 2.0 Analysis
Caught in the Spider’s Web: Military Bloggers Revealed Gaps in Russia’s Military and Information Defense
Ukraine’s operation, “Spider’s Web”, took the Kremlin by surprise and sent shockwaves from targeted military airfields to destinations far away from the frontline. Even though the final number of destroyed and damaged military planes decreased by half from an initial estimate of 40 to roughly 20, Ukraine managed to inflict substantial damage on strategic bombers using small tactical drones. This latest attack in a series of daring David-versus-Goliath operations put Russian military officials in an awkward position, especially on the eve of ceasefire negotiations scheduled between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, Türkiye. To understand the domestic reaction to this attack, we turn
Catch Me If EU Can: How RT and Sputnik Evade EU Content Bans
It has been well documented that Russian state media outlets have developed various ways to circumvent EU sanctions to continue reaching audiences in Europe. This often includes the use of mirror sites—identical copies of Russian state media websites hosted on unblocked domains. This strategy extends to social media platforms, where RT and Sputnik use proxy accounts and other workarounds to bypass bans and geo-blocking placed on official accounts and channels. Russian state media openly acknowledges this practice: In one of its mirror Telegram channels, RT Deutsch, RT’s German-language outlet, mocked EU attempts to block its content using a famous Soviet cartoon “Well, Just You Wait!
Taming the Rising Lion: Alignment of Iranian, Russian, and Chinese Narratives on the Israel-Iran Conflict
Dubbing it “Operation Rising Lion”, Israel has launched widespread airstrikes across Iran, hitting key nuclear facilities and killing several military commanders and intensifying decades of hostility between Tehran and Tel Aviv. Given Iran’s long-standing geopolitical relationship with both Russia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), ASD researchers analyzed Iranian, Russian, and PRC state messaging about the developing conflict to assess how closely the three countries are rhetorically aligned and what it could mean for their future cooperation. Iran This conflict has unsurprisingly dominated Iranian state messaging, which seized on the events to lambaste Israel and soun
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Announcements As devastating wildfires wreaked havoc in Los Angeles earlier this year, the Kremlin leveraged the tragedy to sow division and undermine trust in relief efforts. ASD Senior Fellow Bret Schafer and Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall will discuss how US foreign adversaries have increasingly directed information operations to target local American communities. Register here to tune in on Tuesday, June 24. Our Takes Following Israel’s strikes against Iranian military and nuclear sites, Iranian, Russian, and Chinese state messengers united in their rhetoric to support Iran’s right to retaliate and to accuse the United States of being involved in the con
Russia’s Messages in English and Spanish Differ on Los Angeles Protests, Krystyna Sikora and Peter Benzoni Tell Factchequeado (in Spanish)
ASD researchers Krystyna Sikora and Peter Benzoni told Factchequeado how Russian messaging differed depending on whether the Kremlin wrote in English or Spanish in response to protests in Los Angeles, California about US President Donald Trump's immigration policies. [fusion_button link="https://factchequeado.com/teexplicamos/20250618/rt-sputnik-ingles-espanol-protestas-la/" title="" target="_self" link_attributes="" alignment_medium="" alignment_small="" alignment="" modal="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" sticky_display="normal,sticky" class="" id="" color="default" button_gradient_top_color_hover="" hue="" saturation="" lightness="" alpha="" button
Thinning the ICE: Russian and Chinese Messaging on the Los Angeles Protests
Since the protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles began last weekend, false and misleading information about the ongoing demonstrations and the Trump administration’s crackdown have proliferated online. Though many of the falsehoods have been driven by partisan actors, foreign adversaries have also seized on the unrest to promote conspiracies and narratives aimed at further sowing chaos and denigrating the United States. Russia Russian influence actors exploited the escalation of events in Los Angeles to exacerbate partisan divides, pushing narratives and conspiracies intended to slander protesters and Democrats. Russian state media and pro-Kremlin propagandists leaned on narr
Securing Democracy Dispatch
Announcements Next Wednesday, June 11 and Thursday, June 12, GMF will host the 20th annual Brussels Forum. ASD’s Managing Director, David Salvo, will moderate two discussions, one about the future of American democracy and another about the challenges of regulating social media in a democracy. Check out the full agenda here! The Dispatch will be on hiatus next week as GMF hosts the Brussels Forum. We will publish our next edition on Wednesday, June 18 and thereafter return to our Thursday schedule. Our Takes The EU announced its European Democracy Shield initiative amid mounting internal and external threats to democracy. The EU has an opportunity to develop a cohesive, whole-o
Europe’s Moment of Truth: A Democracy Shield for Today and Tomorrow
Executive Summary Democracy in Europe is under growing pressure. Authoritarian regimes like Russia and the People’s Republic of China are conducting increasingly sophisticated foreign interference campaigns that blend information manipulation, cyberattacks, malign finance, economic coercion, and kinetic operations. Internally, illiberal actors are eroding the rule of law and civic freedoms as democratic norms deteriorate in the EU’s immediate neighborhood. The EU’s current response often remains fragmented and reactive, exposing it to external interference and internal backsliding. The European Democracy Shield, announced in 2024 and expected in 2025, presents a unique opportunit
Foreign Information Operations Targeting California and Other States
In this expert-led webinar, Bret Schafer of the Alliance for Securing Democracy joined Dr. Robert English, Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California, to explore how foreign influence operations are evolving in the digital age. The discussion highlighted the increasingly sophisticated methods adversarial regimes use to manipulate U.S. public opinion by blending propaganda with AI, social media, and even real American voices. [fusion_button link="https://youtu.be/H-e-gRkb8nM?si=qRw2Nna4d-TBl1l0" title="" target="_self" link_attributes="" alignment_medium="" alignment_small="" alignment="" modal="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibili