First time I've seen this kind of reporting: a foreign leader meets w Putin and Prigozhin (!) in Moscow, asks for their help w reelection, gets in-country help from IRA troll factory to hype his candidacy & promote disinformation/spoiler candidates. Important piece by @mschwirtz
@mschwirtz Very on brand for Prigozhin. "For all its efforts, the operation in Madagascar missed its mark at first, plagued by a startling incompetence and corruption that undercuts Russia’s image as a master political manipulator."
@mschwirtz Yup. "The strategy of supporting so-called spoiler candidates is another echo of the 2016 plot to subvert the US election, in which Russian social media bots encouraged support for figures like Jill Stein — as a way, officials say, to draw votes away from Hillary Clinton."
