GRU by the Numbers: Inside Russia’s Hybrid War Machine

The UK's 2025 intelligence profile reveals how Russia’s GRU blends hacking, sabotage, and propaganda across borders.

Let’s look at the numbers — and what they mean.

#HybridThreat #CyberWarfare #GRU 🇷🇺 The GRU isn’t one unit.

It’s an integrated system of cyber, covert, and influence operations.

This thread covers:

🔹 3 core units
🔹 8+ malware tools
🔹 20+ major attacks
🔹 Global targeting from Ukraine to the Olympics

Source linked below

Inside the Mind of a Propagandist

A top Russian official just dropped a post filled with hate, fear, and psychological warfare.

We broke it down line by line to show how modern propaganda actually works.

#Disinformation #Propaganda “European morons have agreed on the 18th package of sanctions…”

Tactic: Mockery + Dehumanization

Right from the start: no facts, just name-calling.

Why?

🔹 It shuts down empathy
🔹 Signals tribal loyalty
🔹 Makes cruelty feel casual

🧵 Values are oxygen.

Without them, society doesn’t just get worse.

It suffocates.

This is a thread about why values matter — especially for the state — and why the rule of law is how we keep our democracies breathing. Not every citizen will live by perfect ideals.

We lie sometimes.
We cut corners.
We fail each other.

That’s human.

But the state cannot afford that luxury.

It has to be better than us.

🧵 When Ideals Are Captured by Empires

A thread about what happened to communism once it became a tool of the Soviet state — and how that legacy still poisons the world today. Communism promised a new world.

No kings.
No landlords.
No inherited power.
A system for workers.
A society of equals.

That was the dream — in books, in cells, in whispers in the dark.

Russia isn’t misunderstood.

It’s not confused or cornered.

It has made choices — over and over — to back violence, crush truth, and sabotage the world’s progress.

And those choices have consequences far beyond its borders.

#CognitiveWarfare #Disinformation Since the Soviet days, Moscow has chosen domination over development.

Tanks in Prague.
Terror in Grozny.
Poison in London.
Chemical weapons in Syria.

It’s never been about peace. It’s been about control — always.

“Russia’s Lies Tell the Truth — About Russia”

Kremlin propaganda isn’t just manipulation.

It’s a mirror.

Each lie reveals a fear, a weakness, or a goal.

Here’s what Russia’s biggest falsehoods really say — about Russia.

#CognitiveWarfare #NarrativeSecurity 1️⃣ “Ukraine is full of Nazis.”

What it says: Russia is de-Nazifying.

What it reveals: Russia needs moral cover for a war it can’t justify.

Fascism is projection — a lie wrapped in stolen memory.

Russia doesn’t just fight with tanks and troops.

It fights with stories.

A war on how we think.

Here’s what we’ve learned from the @TheStudyofWar report on Russian cognitive warfare — and how to fight back.

#CognitiveWarfare #NarrativeWarfare @TheStudyofWar 📖 Section 1: Historical Context

Russia’s cognitive warfare isn’t new.

It’s rooted in Soviet doctrine — refined over decades.

It doesn’t just deceive.

It aims to shape how opponents reason.

Once you adopt the Kremlin’s premises, it’s already won.

Fighting Russian disinformation isn’t about debunking every lie.

It’s about changing how we respond.

Here are 7 ways democracies can push back — clearly, strategically, and without feeding the fire.

#CognitiveWarfare #NarrativeWarfare Don’t play defense.

Build your own narrative.

If you only react to Russian lies, you’re already on their terms.

Clarity beats correction.

Lead with what’s true — not just what’s false.

Why does Russia rely so heavily on lies?

Because it’s not as strong as it wants you to believe.

When the Kremlin’s power falls short, it turns to perception — not bullets — to shape outcomes.

Here’s how cognitive warfare fills the gap.

#CognitiveWarfare #Disinformation Russia’s goals haven’t changed in 25 years:

Preserve Putin’s regime

Reclaim dominance over Ukraine, Belarus, and the post-Soviet space

Break NATO and Western unity

Undermine US influence globally

But there's a problem…

Cognitive warfare is not new.

It’s not a Kremlin gimmick or a 2025s trend

It’s a system — built over decades

And for Russia, it’s as foundational as tanks or missiles

Let’s trace how cognitive warfare became central to the Russian way of war

#CognitiveWarfare #Disinformation It started long before Putin.

The Soviet doctrine of reflexive control aimed to shape how adversaries think — not just what they believe.

The goal: make them act in ways that serve Soviet interests while thinking it was their own choice.

Russia’s War on Your Mind: What NATO Must Learn

Russia isn't just fighting with tanks.

It's fighting with narratives.

And it's winning ground inside people’s heads—without firing a shot.

This is cognitive warfare.

#CognitiveWarfare #InformationOps What is cognitive warfare?

According to the Institute for the Study of War:

“Cognitive warfare is the use of information to shape, influence, and manipulate how people think and act.”

Russia has made this a strategic weapon.

understandingwar.org/backgrounder/p…

14 Propaganda Techniques You Now Know

Propaganda works best when you don’t see it.

Now you can.

Here’s a recap of 14 tactics that manipulate minds—taken straight from real media and a gold-standard dataset.

#PropagandaPattern #Disinformation Loaded Language – Emotion-packed words to trigger reactions

Name Calling / Labeling – Reducing people to stereotypes

Repetition – Say it enough and it feels true

Exaggeration / Minimization – Blowing things up or playing them down

7. Flag-Waving: Hiding Behind the Flag

What if disagreeing made you look unpatriotic?

That’s flag-waving.

Propaganda that hides shaky arguments behind symbols of loyalty.

Nation. Religion. Group identity.

#PropagandaPattern #Disinformation 🔹 What it is:

Using national, cultural, or group pride to justify actions or shut down criticism.

🔹 Why it works:

We want to belong.

When an idea is wrapped in identity, rejecting it feels like betrayal.

4. Exaggeration & Minimization: Distorting the Scale

Propaganda doesn’t just lie.

Sometimes it just stretches the truth—or shrinks it.

Blowing things up. Playing things down.

Let’s unpack how it works.

#PropagandaPattern #Disinformation 🔹 What it is:

Framing events, people, or facts as way bigger or smaller than they really are.

It’s not always false—but it’s always distorted.

🔹 Why it works:

You don’t react to facts—you react to scale.

Make a threat look huge → panic
Make harm look tiny → apathy

1. Loaded Language: How Propaganda Hijacks Emotion

Ever feel instantly angry, proud, or afraid just from a few words?

That’s no accident. That’s loaded language.

Let’s break it down.

#PropagandaPattern #Disinformation 🔹 What it is:

Using emotionally charged words to trigger strong feelings—without making a real argument.

🔹 Why it works:

Emotion bypasses logic.

If you're outraged, you're less likely to fact-check.

If you're proud, you're more likely to agree.

How Passive Voice Shields Power

Propaganda isn’t always loud. Sometimes it hides in grammar.

Today we break down how passive voice is used to obscure blame, frame violence, and protect power in political news.

Based on a 2022 peer-reviewed study👇

#Propaganda #Disinformation What is passive voice—and why does it matter?

Passive voice flips the usual word order.

🔹 Active: The police arrested the protester.
🔹 Passive: The protester was arrested.

The doer disappears—or becomes optional.

That’s not just grammar. That’s strategy.

You are the target. And now you know how it works.

In this 8-part thread series, we broke down how modern media manipulates you—using real data from a 2022 peer-reviewed study.

Here’s what we learned—and why it matters right now.

#Disinformation #InfoWarfare 🧵 Thread 1: “You’re being manipulated—and you probably don’t even notice”

Media uses fear, grammar, and images to steer your thoughts before you even finish reading.

You don’t think first.

You feel first.

Why smart people still fall for fake news

A 2022 study explains why intelligence doesn’t protect you from media manipulation—unless you know what to look for.

Here’s how even critical thinkers get played.

#CognitiveBias #Disinformation The research surveyed 325 people with different language abilities.

They weren’t asked what they knew.
They were tested on what they noticed—

and what manipulated them without their awareness.

You're being manipulated—and you probably don't even notice.

A 2022 peer-reviewed study analyzed how headlines, images, and grammar shape our opinions—often before we finish reading.

#Disinformation #MediaLiteracy This isn't a theory thread.

It's based on a real study with 325 participants from around the world.

Researchers asked:

What makes a headline feel manipulative?

What grabs our attention—and why?

How Algorithms Help Propaganda Win

Disinformation isn’t just created—it’s engineered to spread.

Social media platforms reward content that provokes, polarizes, or performs

This thread explains how algorithms quietly turn fake news into influence

#Disinformation #MediaLiteracy Platforms don’t promote truth—they promote engagement

Your feed isn’t neutral. It’s a ranking system.

Posts that get:
🔹 More reactions
🔹 More shares
🔹 More repeat clicks

...are pushed to the top.

That includes conspiracy, outrage, and propaganda.

Fake News Outperformed Real News in 2016

In the final months of the 2016 election, the most viral stories on Facebook weren’t from CNN or The New York Times.

They were fake.

And they traveled faster, wider, and deeper than the truth.

#FakeNews #Disinformation The numbers are brutal

📊 Top 20 fake election stories on Facebook:
8.7 million shares, reactions, comments

📊 Top 20 real election stories (from 19 major news sites):
7.4 million

Source: Craig Silverman, Buzzfeed