A Russian network of internet trolls has started spreading online messages blaming “enemies of the West” for the crash of the plane that killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group, last week, according to two experts who monitor troll activity.
Prigozhin has previously championed the use of trolls to spread messages designed to disrupt and polarize Western societies. His Internet Research Agency, based in St. Petersburg, created hundreds of fake accounts on social networks with the aim of meddling in the politics of other countries, which led the United States, in 2018, to sanction Prigozhin for election interference.
At that time, the CNN obtained secret videos recorded inside the secretive Internet Research Agency, where online trolls worked 12-hour shifts, with the aim of distorting the political debate in the US.
It is unclear whether the Internet Research Agency still exists, especially after US sanctions and the short-lived Prigozhin-led mutiny in late June. But two groups of independent analysts – bot blocker It is Chef’s Trap – have analyzed several dozen Russian troll accounts on the social networks Vkontakte and X, formerly known as Twitter.
The creator of Bot Blocker, who does not reveal his identity for security reasons, said he was “extremely convinced” that Prigozhin and his structures remained in charge of troll accounts until his death. he said to CNN that the project analyzed more than 100 messages from dozens of troll accounts.
A CNN checked accounts from a list shared by Bot Blocker and noticed apparent patterns of activity. All accounts were created between March and June 2023 and all had no personal posts except for a few reposts of just one account.
The accounts only comment on news posts related to the Russia-Ukraine War and pro-Ukrainian channels, spreading the exact same narratives.
They are related to the disclosure of two themes: Putin had no reason to kill Prigozhin, as the two had already resolved the issues related to Prigozhin’s mutiny, and that his supposed death was the work of the West, which opposes the influence of the Wagner group in the Africa.
According to Bot Blocker, messages carrying these narratives began to appear on August 23, around 8 pm Moscow time, which coincides with the time when pro-Wagner channels on Telegram began sharing reports about the death. from Prigozhin.
Officially, the list of passengers on board, which included Prigozhin’s name, was published by Russian authorities at 23:00 Moscow time on 23 August.
Available publications show that these narratives are still actively disseminated.
Trolls defend Putin
Bot Blocker has shared its datasheets with CNN , which included recent messages from accounts they described as belonging to trolls. According to Bot Blocker, trolls disseminate their narratives through comments on various topics and posts related to relevant subjects.
The project analyzed comments from reports that mentioned “Prigozhin” or “airplane” from the moment the plane crashed.
Referring to Prigozhin’s death, one post read: “We need to think about who benefits from this. It is the same West, for which Wagner in Africa was a threat”.
“It didn’t even make sense for Putin to kill Prigozhin, especially when his questions were normal,” said another post, also responding in a thread where the idea of Putin being behind the plane crash was debated.
“I suppose the West deliberately staged a terrorist attack to pit elites against each other inside Russia… Purely American method, proven many times over,” said another, responding to a news report about Prigozhin’s apparent death.
According to Bot Blocker’s initial analysis, there were no changes in rhetoric following the official confirmation of Prigozhin’s death.
OX did not respond to a request for comment from CNN .
A CNN also spoke with another agency, Chef’s Trap, which works to uncover and analyze the activities of Russian internet trolls on the Russian social media platform Vkontakte (also known as Vk). The watchdog group chose its name in reference to Prigozhin’s well-known nickname “Putin’s Chef”.
“Mostly, these messages have the general aim of filling the information field with all sorts of conjectures and ideas, justifying the Kremlin in every possible way,” said the creator of Chef’s Trap, who also asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.
The Chef’s Trap creator also says he noticed similar trends when analyzing these posts on Vkontakte: the Wagner group’s activities in Africa were inconvenient for the West, and therefore Western authorities decided to remove him, and Putin had no reason to kill Prigozhin , since they had already solved their problems.
The project started operations in 2019 and analyzes thousands of posts a day. He has developed an automated system that identifies allegedly fake accounts along with messages believed to be trolls.
Chef’s Trap uses techniques similar to Bot Blocker to identify trolls, but each agency has its own unique algorithms, which the CNN cannot verify independently.
“You can see that these accounts are connected by activity on the same topics and by the similarity of the narratives they promote,” the Chef’s Trap creator told CNN .
“Why would Putin kill Prigozhin? (Prigozhin) was Putin’s friend who always helped him with every request. Therefore, it was not beneficial for Russia to lose such a person,” one post read.
VIDEO: Kremlin rejects accusations over Prigozhin’s death
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
