Russia turns to bot farms and blackmail to block Western aid to Ukraine – Intelligence report

Russian propaganda's impact on international audiences

"Today, in the leadership of the Russian Federation, there are people who were involved in carrying out similar activities back in the Soviet era, or who studied those methods. The methods we are seeing now are well tested by time. That is why I would call them professional active measures. And these measures are complex," he said.

According to him, these enemy measures include:

• Disinformation
• Use of agents of influence in different sectors
• Involvement of political parties, most often left-wing parties
• Creation, participation in, and support of various international movements and organizations, manipulation of these groups, and the establishment of front organizations

"This includes spreading disinformation through media outlets in third-world countries, the use of bot farms and the like. It involves blackmail, political influence operations, the supply of weapons, training and support of terrorist groups. It also includes misleading journalists and distributing forged documents allegedly bearing the signatures of state authorities," HUR stated.

Pavlenko noted that the key issue is not so much which methods are used, but how they are applied, including at the international level.

"It is clear that there must be some kind of foundation, what diplomats call ad hoc – something created or done for a specific, special purpose, not for general or broad use. They see where it can be applied and act in that area. Obviously, for each country these will be different pressure points," he added.

Russia seeks to turn the West away from supporting Ukraine

The former deputy head of HUR stressed that Russian disinformation aims to achieve two main objectives.

"The first is to break faith in resistance. The second is collaboration. Other levels may follow, but they all serve this single purpose. Remember, at the start of the invasion these were operations aimed at weakening belief in Ukraine’s ability to resist: "Ukraine will fall, there’s no point in helping it." Later this evolved into splitting the West, trying to stop support for Ukraine by portraying it as pointless," the major general said.

At the same time, he noted that in Ukraine’s own information space, occupiers spread different messages.

"For example, operations targeting our military and political leadership. These are also aimed at the same goal — to shake our faith in resistance. HUR devotes a lot of attention to this, and every day on our platforms you can see stories that highlight the heroism of the Ukrainian people. We contribute to covering the real situation in Ukraine," Pavlenko explained.

He also admitted that not all countries are able to withstand Russian disinformation, as some simply lack the resources.

"We need to focus on counteraction capabilities. Only comprehensive approaches can resist Russia’s disinformation machine. And, of course, through the support of civil society," Pavlenko noted.

The forum Information Warfare: From Resistance to Resilience brought together experts from various countries, who discussed ways to develop effective mechanisms of information and cognitive security in an interdisciplinary format.

The forum also provided a platform for sharing experiences in countering modern threats and developing joint international strategies to strengthen resilience.

During the event, Valeriy Kondratiuk, former head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) and Foreign Intelligence Service, stated that Russia has begun to massively use artificial intelligence in its information attacks.

Meanwhile, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Kornienko explained at the forum that the scale of young men aged 18–20 leaving Ukraine for abroad is currently exaggerated.