Thread by @randymot4

1/13 #RussianPropaganda
Democrats have been using "Russian disinformation" as a cover for some time. That does not mean that there is no actual Russian disinformation. Weakening or removing Republican support for UKR aid is a key objective of Putin./1
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The Russian technique is to exploit divisions in society. Anyone who has watched RTV has seen it on display. Exploiting mistrust of the govt or foreign leaders is part of the package./2

Social media provides an excellent opportunity for these activities. The FTX story trying to link UKR aid with that scandal is a clear example. It started on Russian social media. Within hours, an elaborate meme is posted and retweeted. Very professional graphics./3

The image traces back to a Middle Eastern source and a Bulgarian site is that now blocked. Almost certainly a scam, developed deliberately to mislead./4

The story is total nonsense. Actual crypto records show that UKR govt bought no crypto. Plus no million holes in UKR accts show up, via regularly audits and tracking. There are a dozen sources that dismiss the whole story as propaganda./5 mashable.com/article/ftx-uk…

This of course is not alone in the Russian arsenal of propaganda scams. Someone went to great pains to photoshop a picture of Zelensky, transposing a swastika. A Jewish guy wearing a Nazi symbol./6
snopes.com/fact-check/zel…

Then there is another famous fake, also one very professionally. Someone worked hard to get this one put together. Again who had the incentive and resources?/7
truthmeter.mk/with-a-fake-ph…

As recently as a week ago, another photoshopped fake emerges claiming Mrs., Zelensky went shopping in Paris and spent $40k and travelled on a private jet. Simple to disprove, but who benefits from discrediting Zelensky before his DC speech?: /8 aap.com.au/factcheck/fake…

These efforts have not been limited to social media. A reported photo of a Nazi rally was handed out in Kherson. This one was openly by the Russians. Later posed on social media. An obvious fake:/9

https://twitter.com/marcbennetts1/status/1578426400091955201?s=20&t=GvOVmlyKvm9xHn9U_ja8zg

I could probably post another ten of these. These are evidence of a well-organized & serious effort to deliberately undermine US support for Ukraine. This is perhaps the only hope Putin has of stopping a decisive loss on the battlefield./10

https://twitter.com/general_ben/status/1607657407223586816?s=20&t=JXYAkNfHrIj1m4tGWFfWOQ

Now we are seeing Russian trolls farms and bots discovered outside Russia to avoid simple detection by their .ru signatures. /11

https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1608489468012695558?s=20&t=54PBAoUEYndjax-BnHvg4g

/12

https://twitter.com/sara_dillon/status/1591106838514536448?s=20&t=aAR6PI7olA3dToKC_I5Ddg/12

My conclusion: please look at facts and not cutesy memes. Sensationalist stories that run against the grain of NATO policy (this is not just the US or Biden Admin) should be presumed to be fake unless someone produces some real evidence./13