{"id":15148,"date":"2019-12-03T14:35:42","date_gmt":"2019-12-03T14:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/?p=15148"},"modified":"2019-12-03T14:35:42","modified_gmt":"2019-12-03T14:35:42","slug":"who-is-managing-online-trolls-in-eu-africa-and-latin-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/who-is-managing-online-trolls-in-eu-africa-and-latin-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is managing online trolls in EU, Africa and Latin America?"},"content":{"rendered":"

InformNapalm volunteer intelligence community publishes IGTDS investigation<\/a> on who is managing online trolls in EU, Africa and Latin America.
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Information and psychological operations analysis in Latin America and Africa indicates the presence of an extensive network operating in the RF military intelligence\u2019s interests under the operational control of the structures close to Eugene Prigogine. El Mundo Spanish newspaper claimed<\/a>\u00a0that Russian online trolls helped spin the Catalonia referendum in social networks, the head of the Kremlin-funded Russian anti-globalists was behind it.<\/p>\n

El Mundo points out that Spanish law enforcement officials are investigating whether\u00a0Russian anti-globalists<\/strong>helped the Catalans \u201cto clone referendum sites and create bots to spread the messages of such figures and organizations as Assange, Snowden, RT or WikiLeaks through social networks\u201d<\/p>\n

IGTDS studies show that the same social networks accounts are involved in the developments in Chile and Barcelona. Account activity studies during the protests in Santiago have identified a group of active users, involved in public outrage in Catalonia, particularly during the riots at El Prat Airport.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The system of accounts ends with the RT Spanish-language channel, most of them being its subscribers. The accounts have a clear political focus and contain mostly left-wing views. If such accounts are not directly linked to Russia, it is possible that they are administered from Cuba or Venezuela. However, some indications of consistency suggest that campaigns are likely to be coordinated on purpose. Some of these accounts are positioned as originating from Spain, while others are from Latin America.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexander Ionov, born December 12, 1989, is the head of the AGMR, above-mentioned by El Mundo. In 2012, he got the diploma of technical service manager-economist at Moscow State Agro-Engineering University named after V.P. Goryachkin. He\u00a0obtained\u00a0<\/a>his master\u2019s degree in 2014, in vocational education at the Russian State Agrarian University named after K. Timiryazev.<\/p>\n

According to the CV, he did not serve in the Armed Forces. However, during his studies, he graduated from the university military department, which specializes in the training of reserve officers for the use of automobile connections, operation and repair of motor vehicles. Ionov\u2019s photos posted on his Facebook page confirm that. The sleeve chevrons correspond to the chevrons of this university\u2019s military department. In 2014, he headed a working group on public control over the legal rights and interests of Russian citizens abroad at the State Duma Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations and Religious Associations.<\/p>\n

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The sleeve chevrons correspond to the chevrons of this university\u2019s military department . Military vehicle with plate of Moscow region.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2009, he began his political career at the Communist Party youth organization, where he worked for 1.5 years.<\/p>\n

Ionov is supported by Fedir Biryukov, the official ideologist of\u00a0the far-right Rodina<\/strong>\u00a0Party and a member of its political council presidium. Biryukov and Ionov are members of Stalingrad socio-patriotic club. In the 1990s, Biryukov was a rock musician, well-known in the far right circles, he organized the Terror group, close to the national Bolsheviks (neo-Nazi ideology). Biryukov, under Fedir Volkov\u2019s pseudonym, collaborated with Sergei Troitsky\u2019s \u201cHard Rock\u201d corporation.<\/p>\n

Since 2012, Ionov has been the executive secretary at the Committee of Solidarity with the Latin American Peoples. The committee had no official registration, only a website. Since 2011 \u2013 he is the President of Russia\u2019s Anti-Globalist Movement (AGMR), also known as the regional public organization to counter world globalization. \u201cThe reverse processes are beginning now \u2013 the return to international solidarity, the Comintern,\u201d \u2013 Ionov is convinced, \u2013 \u201cWe are going to hold serious activities and support national liberation movements in different countries\u201d,\u00a0he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are the honorary members of the Anti-Globalist Movement.<\/p>\n

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Ionov with Ahmadinejad<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2013, Alexander Ionov, who did not officially serve in the Army, became\u00a0\u00a0the member of Russian public organization, \u201cOfficers of Russia\u201d presidium.<\/strong>\u00a0Some Russia\u2019s military intelligence directorate officers representing the \u201cOfficers of Russia\u201d organization are among his contacts on the FB network.<\/p>\n

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In March 2014, he was in Crimea during its annexation. Photos from his personal Facebook account confirm the fact of his stay, in particular in Mykolaivka. \u201cI came to support fraternal Crimea\u201d, \u2013 he wrote in a comment to the photo.<\/p>\n

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Ionov in occupied Crimea, March 2014.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alexander Ionov also co-chairs the Committee of Solidarity with the Peoples of Syria and Libya. This organization was created in May 2011. It was initiated by\u00a0Sergei Baburin<\/strong>\u00a0(in contact with Ionov in his FB account),\u00a0Heydar Jamal<\/strong>, chairman of Russia\u2019s Islamic Committee and\u00a0Oleg Peresipkin<\/strong>, head of the Middle East Research Center of the Foreign Ministry Diplomatic Academy of Russia (former ambassador to Northern Yemen (1965, 1975, 1984), Iraq (1969), Libya (1986), Lebanon (1999). Upon the breakup of the USSR, he directed the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society, affiliated with the Russian intelservices.<\/p>\n

Maxim Shevchenko, a member of the International Relations Commission, is among the Committee\u2019s\u00a0initiators as well<\/a>.\u00a0Maxim Shevchenko<\/strong>\u00a0is a Russian propagandist with ties to Russia\u2019s military intelligence directorate.<\/p>\n

The abovementioned\u00a0Heydar Jamal was on Russia\u2019s military intelligence directorate<\/strong>\u00a0payroll and is the Orhan Jemal\u2019s father, a journalist who also collaborated with Russia\u2019s military intelligence directorate and died in the CAR as a result of a fighting. In Libya, he worked in tandem with\u00a0Marat Saichenko<\/strong>, detained in Donbass in 2014, while trying to smuggle MANPADS.<\/p>\n

Ionov was in contact with Brigadier General Ahmed Al-Mismari, Libyan Marshal Khalifa Haftar\u2019s representative before Russian active involvement in Libyan developments. The corresponding photos are on Ionov\u2019s account.<\/p>\n

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He also had a meeting with the military attache of the DPRK Embassy in Moscow through the military line.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ionov is in contact with Ala Booth, president of the Road to Home Foundation, the wife of Victor Booth<\/strong>, who is serving a sentence in the United States for trafficking in weapons. Victor Booth is linked to Russian military intelligence. In particular,\u00a0Spiegel did not rule out<\/a>\u00a0such a link, and the\u00a0IGTDS analysis shows<\/a>\u00a0Victor Booth as the person who established the Kremlin\u2019s connection with the Taliban and was responsible for the first deliveries of Russian weapons to the Taliban<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Involvement in Russia\u2019s military intelligence service<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ionov was involved in Maria Butina\u2019s case<\/strong>, arrested in the United States for illegal lobbying activities. The US FBI has failed to prove spying charges, but Butina\u2019s activity corresponds to active recruitment and creation of a pro-Russian influence network in the US. According to investigators, Butina tried informally to forge ties with American conservative circles on behalf of Russia, acting under Alexander Torshin, the former senator and the CBR deputy chairman.<\/p>\n

Ionov was engaged in a fundraising campaign for Butina<\/strong>. That was Ionov who met Butina at the airport among others after returning from the United States, that proves the high level of his involvement in the Butina\u2019s case. Roman Khudyakov, former MP, honorary member of the Right to Arms movement, and Butina\u2019s associate, is the vice president of\u00a0Ionov transcontinental<\/em>, owned by Alexander Ionov. Butina\u2019s ties with Russia\u2019s military intelligence service are traced both through the Novorossiya project when she visited Crimea during the annexation (in June 2014, with\u00a0calls to support<\/a>\u00a0the separatists in the Donbas by volunteers and through the BORN (Militant Organization of Russian Nationalists) project. The quick admission of her guilt on charges of illegal lobbying is an indirect sign of high risks in continuing to investigate Butina\u2019s involvement in Russian\u00a0special services<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Ionov and Maria Butina<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the photos posted on Ionov\u2019s account depicts him in the background of the Kremlin Tower. A so-called tailcoat badge is on his jacket\u2019s lapel. Under unclear circumstances, Ionov had just retouched this badge before posting the photo on Facebook<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

However, the lower part remained unchanged. Three red pixels allowed it to be restored. Obviously, this is a sign of\u00a074455\u00a0<\/strong>military unit.<\/p>\n

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The RF Defense Ministry\u2019s order of March 20, 2012, signed by former Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, stipulates the payment of allowances to military personnel \u201cfor special achievements in the service\u201d. Paragraph \u201c4\u201d of the order states: \u201cMilitary servicemen of 99450, 74455 military units and 29155 military unit structural subdivision shall be paid a monthly allowance on the list and in the amounts approved by the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.\u201d 99450 military unit is the RF SOF command stationed in Senezh, and\u00a074455 \u2013 is Russia\u2019s military intelligence unit<\/strong>, named in\u00a0fraud case.<\/a>\u00a0The military unit\u00a0was named<\/a>\u00a0in the United States during the proceedings for election meddling and publishing sensitive information about the US Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

Ionov\u00a0is a friend<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Dmitry Sablin\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 the deputy of Russia\u2019s State Duma (parliament). He is a member of \u201cfighting brotherhood organization and interparliamentary group of friendship with Syria. He is also a\u00a0head of Rota Development holding<\/a>\u201d that owns business-center located \u00a0at Kirova 22 str., Moscow and named as Rota-Tower\u201d. This facility is mentioned in in U.S. Department of Justice papers on Russian involvement in 2016 elections. Russian military intel unit 74455 is also located in \u201cRota-Tower\u201d<\/strong>. In 2016 Sablin sold \u201cRota-tower\u201d to Russian Ministry of defense affiliate company.<\/p>\n

In February 2019, Ionov gave an exclusive\u00a0interview to RIA FAN<\/a>\u00a0(the Internet Research Agency), which came under US sanctions for liaison with Russian intelligence and troll farms of Russia\u2019s military intelligence directorate.<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s anti-globalization movement is funded, in part, by the Presidential Fund. On September 14, 2016, the AGMR received a grant of 3.5 million rubles to hold an international congress in Moscow, inviting the representatives of separatist movements from around the world. Delegations from Catalonia, Northern Ireland, Scotland, California, Texas, as well as Western Sahara attended the conference. The event was held in the President Hotel conference hall, controlled by the RF Presidential Office.<\/p>\n

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Rota-tower building in Moscow<\/em>.<\/p>\n

However, the next AGMR event was already held at the Ritz-Carlton, which indicates an increase in the spending fund.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Dmitry Rogozin, the Rodina (Motherland) Party\u2019s founder and leader, and the Deputy Prime Minister for the military-industrial complex for some time, is also known to have\u00a0provided the funds<\/a>. Alexander Ionov has got his own business as well. It is the Ionov transcontinental company. The analysis reveals that the company is on the verge of profitability. Ionov himself uses AGMR connections to try to get contracts and earn money on GR services. In particular, AGMR\u2019s active cooperation with the Lebanese is explained by the company\u2019s vice-president, Muhammad Mukhtar, a member of the Lebanese Democratic Party\u2019s political council since 2008. Consequently, much of AGMR\u2019s work is Ionov\u2019s attempt to profit economically from foreign contacts.\u00a0Alexander Ionov has been coordinating work with Venezuelan organizations for a long time, since he began working for the Committee of Solidarity with the Latin American Peoples.\u00a0<\/strong>Hackers from Venezuela, as well as street riot mobs are known for their active involvement in Latin America riots, while\u00a0Ecuador expelled 59 citizens<\/a>\u00a0of this country for illegal acts.<\/p>\n

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Jose Enrique Folk of the Catalan Solidarity for Independence Party<\/em>\u00a0at\u00a0Ionov\u2019s event<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2017, Ionov\u00a0represented<\/a>\u00a0Russian hackers Pyotr Levashov and Stanislav Lisov against claims by Spanish security services that they\u2019d used fake social media accounts to promote Catalonia\u2019s independence from Spain<\/strong>, a cause both AGMR\u00a0and the IRA<\/a>\u00a0have also\u00a0actively helped to promote<\/a>. The pair were later extradited to the U.S. where they pleaded guilty to various cyber crimes<\/strong>. However, there is no mention of Ionov\u2019s law practice, as well as his legal education after graduating from the agro-engineering university. Thus, it is unknown how Ionov represented Levashov and Lisov in Spain. At the same time, starting in 2018, Ionov\u2019s company announced a new type of services \u2013 legal\u00a0support for interests<\/a>. Thus, it is not excluded that the lawyer\u2019s services were outsourced under Ionov company\u2019s activity guise. \u00a0\u00a0The analysis shows that, at least at the tactical level, the Ionov\u2019s organization is in coordination with Malkevich\u2019s groups, the chairman of the National Fund for the Protection of National Values (FPNV).<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the summer of 2018,\u00a0Alexander Malkevich<\/strong>\u00a0arrived in Washington to launch a news propaganda website called USA Really, but was driven from a rented office near the White House within hours of arriving. Facebook and Twitter blocked him from accessing the sites. During another trip to Washington\u00a0in November 2018<\/a>, Malkevich was detained for questioning at a Washington airport, after that he was on a US sanctions list for attempting to interfere in the election.<\/p>\n

Sanctions against Malkevich were also applied to several Russia\u2019s military intelligence service employees.\u00a0Malkevich, alongside with Ionov<\/strong>\u00a0actively participated in raising funds for\u00a0Maria Butina<\/strong>. The funds were transferred through the\u00a0AGMR accounts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Ionov and Malkevich on press-conference on Butina\u2019s fundrising.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In May 2019,\u00a0two Malkevich\u2019s employees were arrested in Libya on charges of trying to influence the country\u2019s elections.<\/strong>\u00a0The US-backed Libyan government accuses the detained Russians of trying to hold a meeting with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, toppled in 2011.<\/p>\n

Maxim Shugaley and his interpreter, Samer Hassan Seifan \u2014 currently work for FPNV. According to Bloomberg, information gleaned from laptops and memory sticks have further identified the two men as working for the infamous Internet Research Agency (IRA), better known as the Russian troll factory. In April, 2019 CNN reported on an\u00a0\u201cinsidious strategy\u201d to quell protests against Sudan\u2019s dictatorial former president Omar al-Bashir late 2018.\u00a0Malkevich published a statement on FPNV\u2019s site\u00a0in which he\u00a0freely admitted<\/a>\u00a0that Potepkin and his colleague, Russian political strategist Petr Bychkov, traveled to Sudan on behalf of the company last year to carry out sociological research, advise al-Bashir\u2019s government on ways to \u201c[avoid] mass casualties among the civilian population,\u201d and ensure \u201cthe bloodless transfer of power\u201d in the country. In an e-mail<\/a>, Malkevich retracted his previous claim that Potepkin and Bychkov secretly worked for FPNV in 2018,but confirmed that the two men do currently work as consultants to its research in Africa. Under the guise of analysis or research they prepared a\u00a0document\u00a0<\/a>which contains details of the alleged disinformation campaign.<\/p>\n

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Documents (up left), Petr Bychkov (bottom) and Potepkin (up right)<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the projects implemented at the operational level by Ionov is the Africa think tank run by\u00a0Matemulane<\/strong>, a Mozambique representative who studied 20 years ago in St. Petersburg. In an interview, Matemulane\u00a0said\u00a0<\/a>that the group was formed in 2018 with the support of a St. Petersburg businessman, whom he refused to name. This project is evidently sponsored by Eugene Prigogine.<\/p>\n

Ionov contacts the representatives of unrecognized Transnistria\u2019s MFA, including Dmitry Palamarchuk, as well as the Foreign Ministry of the DPR, Roman Kozhurin, and the head of the DPR Public Chamber, Alexander Kofman. Another photo shows him sharing a table with the mayor of occupied Debaltseve, i.e., Russia\u2019s military intelligence orbit people.<\/p>\n

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Read more from InformNapalm<\/h2>\n