Leaked Documents Reveal Russian 'Cognitive Strikes' Against the West
2 hours ago
- #European Security Threats
- #Disinformation Campaigns
- #Russian Influence Operations
- In September 2025, nine mosques and cultural centers near Paris were targeted with pig heads marked 'Macron', linked to Russian intelligence via convicted Serbian perpetrators.
- Leaked documents reveal the Social Design Agency (SDA), a sanctioned Russian PR firm, and the Russian Presidential Administration orchestrated 'cognitive strikes' including vandalism, election interference, and disinformation campaigns across Europe.
- Operations aimed to incite social unrest, such as 'Green Synagogues' in Paris to fuel religious tensions and a plan to desecrate a de Gaulle monument falsely attributed to Ukrainian nationalists.
- In Armenia, SDA used media outlets like erevan.one to influence elections against Prime Minister Pashinyan, targeting Russian-speaking voters to maintain Moscow's geopolitical influence.
- Influence efforts included leveraging Western opinion leaders (e.g., French general Delawarde, U.S. Major General Vallely) to spread pro-Russian narratives, with plans for 2026 like AI-driven propaganda and disrupting European alliances like the Visegrad Group.
- Leaked chats show senior official Sofia Zakharova overseeing operations and security, with internal surveillance on SDA head Ilya Gambashidze, highlighting systematic Russian state-directed interference.