Undermining the confidence of global public opinion in elections
A US intelligence report accused Russia of using a network of spies, state media and social media to undermine public confidence in elections around the world.
According to what the British newspaper "The Guardian" reported, the report, which was shared with about 100 countries, said that Russia is focusing on carrying out operations to reduce public confidence in the integrity of the elections, and cited findings from the American intelligence community.
The report said that this is a global phenomenon, and information indicates that senior Russian government officials, including in the Kremlin, see value in this type of influence operation and believe that it is effective.
This assessment, which was sent to embassies in about 100 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America, comes in light of severe tensions between Washington and Moscow against the backdrop of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The report said that Russia engaged in focused efforts between 2020 and 2022 to undermine public confidence in at least 11 elections in 9 democratic countries, including the United States.
Seventeen democratic countries were targeted in less obvious ways, including Russian messaging and social media activity that sought to amplify domestic narratives about election integrity.
The report stated that the US government shared this information about Russian operations with the targeted countries, without specifying them.
The report went on to say that Russia used explicit and covert mechanisms to influence the elections, and this included influence networks run by its security agency, the Federal Security Agency, which secretly attempted to terrorize campaign workers in an unspecified European country that held elections in 2020.
The report also said that the Russian government media amplified false claims of voter fraud in numerous elections in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and South America in 2020 and 2021.