German media outlets Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR, and WDR, as well as the Estonian online news site Delfi, have gained access to internal documents from the “Agency for Social Design” (ASD). This organization operates on behalf of the aggressor state and is subject to EU and US sanctions. The leak contained thousands of files that clearly demonstrate ASD’s methods, principles (or rather, their lack thereof), and plans. Journalists from “Schemes,” who also accessed this data, conducted an investigation and uncovered how ASD is involved in discrediting Ukraine, its leadership, and its citizens, as well as how it creates and promotes fake news and propaganda.
The leak included, among other things, a private video presentation prepared, likely for current or potential clients of the “ASD.” In it, agency head Ilya Gambashidze discusses the services offered by the agency.
These services include monitoring, analytics, and creative work. The creative work category covers articles tailored to the journalistic style of specific countries, social media posts, videos, memes, graphics, and forged official documents. The leak of ASD’s internal statistics shows that from January to April 2024 alone, the agency’s team created over 4,600 memes.
Here’s an interesting detail: Last year, Elon Musk posted a meme about Volodymyr Zelensky on his page. According to the leaked data, it was created by the Kremlin’s fake factory, specifically by someone named Sofia.
“Most likely, this refers to Sofia Zakharova – a staff member of Putin’s Administration who works in the department for the development of information and communication technologies and communication infrastructure,” say the journalists from “Schemes.” They add that, according to American intelligence data, she was part of the Doppelganger campaign. The essence of the campaign was to create duplicate websites of various reputable media outlets, such as the French Le Monde or the German Der Spiegel, where articles discrediting Ukraine were published.
Some of the fake content is targeted at a Ukrainian audience and aims to polarize and divide society. This includes fake documents and news on sensitive topics such as mobilization, battlefield losses, restrictions on freedom of speech during martial law, reductions in military aid, corruption, and counteroffensive operations.
But some of this content is “exported.” The leak reveals how this operation is set up with specific examples. Agency employees write fictional stories in the style of various publications, designed to hit emotional triggers. Often, these are “news” items about the behavior of Ukrainian refugees abroad. Interestingly, some of these fake news stories are picked up by public figures. For example, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who opposes aid to Ukraine, spread a fake ASD news story about Ukrainian children being trafficked on the dark web.
These political technologists also attempted to influence parliamentary elections in the EU and are currently working on promoting the “political movement” of Viktor Medvedchuk, a traitor, known as “Other Ukraine.”
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