Thread by @alexzfinley

This latest investigation from @OCCRP is a doozy. Strap in for a long thread on Russian influence operations. 1/ occrp.org/en/investigati…

A Kremlin-linked lobbying group paid EU politicians and journalists thousands of euros to promote pro-Russia legislation in local and EU legislatures. 2/

It also paid for these politicians to be flown on expensive junkets to pro-Russia events (in this case in Crimea, in an effort to get them to push for recognizing Crimea as Russia). 3/

Success! They got pro-Russia legislation passed in both Italy and Cyprus. The Cypriot parliament and several Italian regional councils voted to lift sanctions on Russia. 4/

Sargis Mirzakhanian, an advisor in the Russian Duma, built a network of influencers in Europe, including politicians, journalists, activists, and academics. 5/

Mirzakhanian organized anti-NATO protests, helped place articles, actually wrote legislation for EU politicians, and more, to push the pro-Russia agenda. This, folks, is #ActiveMeasures. 6/

Mirzakhanian and his lobbying group, the International Agency for Current Policy, cast a wide net, targeting a slew of countries. 7/

How do we know this was state-run? Well, Mirzakhanian’s group exchanged more than 1000 emails with the Russian Presidential Administration. 8/

The group also discussed bringing EU politicians to Russia and targeting EU parliaments with pro-Russia legislation. 9/

Remember when convicted Russian spy Mariia Butina invited the NRA to Moscow? Look at it through the lens of this tweet thread. They were being targeted. 10/

Back to the EU: Mirzakhanian’s group arranged to make big payments to these politicians, calling it, “the price tag of the vote”. 11/

What was the price? Well, 20,000 euros for one campaign, with what looks like a bonus of 15,000 euros if they succeed in passing the legislation. In Italy and Austria, the politicians did indeed introduce the resolution (but they did not pass, womp womp) 12/

They did have success, however, in the Cypriot parliament and in some northern regions of Italy in getting resolutions passed to recognize Crimea as Russia. Good quote here from @OlgaNYC1211: 13/

Why is it important to capture local politicians? Because they’re just like us! As I outlined in this thread, we receive messages better if they come from our own. We entrust our leaders to act in our interest. It's a betrayal when they don't. 14/

Maybe politicians should wear sponsor patches on their clothes, like NASCAR drivers, so we know exactly who is paying them to say what. 15/

Mirzakhanian also got a group to go on a junket in Yalta, Crimea. Quite a coup, since it shows a number of EU politicians willing to go to Russian-occupied territory. It’s got a whiff of Sudetenland about it, no? 16/

And they would all get an honorarium. That is, they would be paid to go. Budget was 21,500 euros (travel costs were separate). 17/

Here’s how much each was to be paid (it’s unclear if anyone actually received money in the end). Imagine finding out they were paying the other guy more than you for your soul. 18/

Another good quote from @OlgaNYC1211 , why this is a coup both externally and internally. 19/

.@OCCRP's investigation also looks at how some of these actors tried to forge business ties between EU countries and Russia (and specifically, Russian companies in Crimea). This is another form of influence. 20/

Business ties make it harder to unlink your constituents' well-being with that of Russia. Look at this thread from @olgatokariuk about how some Italian businesses responded when Russia invaded Ukraine (again) last year. 21/

Back to the @OCCRP report. Here we have an activist who placed a pro-Russia op-ed in a Swiss magazine, without revealing he was paid by Russia. 22/

LOL the guy didn’t want his name to go on an article that was poorly written, but welp, when they’re paying you… 23/

One German far-right politician (member of AfD) got thousands of euros to publish pro-Russia propaganda in a magazine he edited. This included an interview with another politician about why sanctions on Russia should be lifted. 24/

Things didn’t work out too well for some of these guys who helped Russia. Maybe it was the dangerous Russian windows? 25/

Or for their associates. 26/

But they haven’t all gotten the message that this might not end well for them. 27/

Now, to bring this to the US and the "Russiagate Hoax." The US was not an outlier. Russian proxies tried this exact same thing with US politicians (and probably with journalists and academics and activists). Like, literally: 28/

This isn't about politics. This is about Putin pushing his agenda on the global stage. Trump, Salvini, and the politicians listed in this article are tools. Nothing more. We have to stop viewing this is a partisan issue. It is a NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE. 29/

Anyway, for a funnier version of all this, read VICTOR IN TROUBLE. 30/

Easy Click Access™️ amazon.com/Victor-Trouble…

And if you're interested in a deeper dive in all this, including the human spying part and the "what we can do about it" part, check out my Foreign Influence Operations course. 31/
-fin-
alexzfinley.substack.com/p/intro-to-for…

Actually, not quite -fin-
Here’s another good thread outlining how these ops work.