Thread by @TheStudyofWar

#Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed on March 12 that @TheStudyofWar's March 11 report about her comments acknowledging #Kremlin infighting is false and an “informational attack.” 🧵(1/7) isw.pub/UkrWar031223

https://twitter.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1635084203300913152

2/ ISW used accounts from Russian media sources as well as a Russian milblogger (who claimed to be in attendance) to report on #Zakharova’s comments in an altercation with information space entrepreneur Igor Ashmanov during a panel discussion in #Moscow.

3/ A milblogger who attended the event quoted Zakharova as saying that the #Kremlin cannot copy the Stalinist approach of establishing a modern equivalent to the Soviet Information Bureau to centrally control the RU info space due to infighting among unspecified Kremlin “elites.”

4/ The milblogger did not comment on Zakharova’s denial on March 12 but amplified a social media post from another milblogger who claimed that the West (presumably ISW) misrepresented Zakharova’s statements. isw.pub/UkrWar031223

5/ The social media post, however, also blamed Zakharova and the #Kremlin for failing to adopt stronger information space policies.

6/ Several other milbloggers confirmed that Ashmanov accused #Kremlin organs of failing to create a trusted centralized information campaign but argued about how other attendees attempted to downplay his statements.

7/ This milblogger discourse not only confirms that the incident occurred, but also that ultranationalist figures reiterated variants of ISW’s assessment that the #Kremlin’s ability to control the #Russian information space is diminishing. isw.pub/UkrWar031223