Ahead of the UK election on July 4, 2024, Resolver identified a cross-platform pro-Kremlin influence operation that sought to undermine public trust in the domestic political and royal establishment, and manipulate the perceptions of voters heading to the polls.
The campaign used a range of online assets including websites as well as influential accounts and social media influencers on private messaging apps and mainstream social media platforms. These were used to push unsubstantiated allegations that senior politicians and public figures in the UK were operating a “child trafficking” operation that targeted Ukrainians, migrants, and children from low-income families.
While the operation was unable to gain enough traction to meaningfully disrupt the election, posts furthering the allegations have amassed tens of thousands of views on alt-tech and social media platforms. This was after being shared by multiple channels and accounts belonging to popular fringe and conspiracy influencers based in the UK, Australia and the US.
In addition to its dubious sourcing, the social media dissemination strategy employed in the influence operation conforms with previously identified pro-Kremlin influence operations. It is likely that beyond undermining public trust in the political establishment, the use of child trafficking allegations was designed to appeal towards anti-establishment and conspiratorial audiences in the UK.
Resolver has noted an uptick in similar tactics to inject and amplify disinformation in the recent EU Parliamentary elections as part of our election monitoring work for major platforms and brands, often targeted to polarising topics and fringe beliefs, as adversaries attempt to hijack online discourse to exploit internal divisions.
Wagner-linked NGO pushes “child trafficking” allegations
On July 1, 2024, three days before the UK general election, a Wagner-affiliated human rights NGO, ‘Foundation to Battle Injustice’ (FBI) published a blog furthering unsubstantiated allegations of a “sophisticated pedophile network secretly known as the Sphinx””.
A blog published by the foundation on its website alleges the existence of a “British paedophile ring” including senior members of the British political and royal establishment.
The “British pedophile ring” is alleged to include former PM Rishi Sunak and PM Keir Starmer amongst other senior political and public figures. This includes figures such as King Charles III and documentary filmmaker Louis Theroux. who is erroneously identified as a “British Lord”. The blog further claims that the victims are “Ukrainian children, young members of low-income families, and migrant kids.”
The bulk of the allegations levelled by the FBI in the blog are attributed to communications with a “former MI6 agent who had been granted political asylum in Russia” and “a former member of the British House of Commons”. A video embedded in the blog also includes testimony from Sean Ambrose, referred to as an “Australian veteran and British policy expert”.
The FBI blog also included video testimony from an individual identified as an ex-candidate for a political party in Australia.
Further scrutiny of Ambrose’s online footprint revealed an article published by The Sydney Morning Herald in March 2023, that identified him as an ex-candidate for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party in Australia. The article also highlighted how Ambrose had been expelled from the party due to his history of promoting pro-Kremlin narratives, particularly around Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.
The language and content of the campaign, alleging the existence of powerful elites engaging in child abuse, is likely intended to resonate with conspiracy theorist and fringe communities in the targeted countries, echoing allegations furthered in other popular conspiracy theories such as QAnon.
Who is the FBI?
The FBI claims to be an “independent NGO that is supported by private donations from Russian citizens” on its website. The organisation is run by Mira Terada, who was previously charged with drug trafficking and convicted of money laundering in the US, and had significant ties to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the late founder of the Wagner Group private military company.
Another blog published by the FBI credits Prigozhin for allowing the organisation to “implement many projects and initiatives”.
Terada is reported to have ties with other individuals and organisations associated with pro-Kremlin disinformation operations targeting the US, UK, and EU Member States. Kremlin-backed influence operations and alternative media outlets often cite the FBI and its founder Terada as credible sources to support pro-Kremlin talking points and disinformation amplified across mainstream and alt-tech social platforms.
Examples of Terada appearing as a credible expert on talk shows and podcasts hosted by anti-establishment and pro-Kremlin influencers on mainstream and alt-tech platforms.
The FBI frequently publishes articles that make similar outlandish and verifiably false claims, framing its publications as human rights activism. Previous blogs published by the organisation have included conspiratorial allegations including claims of medical experiments conducted on unwitting individuals in the US and accusations of senior politicians in Germany, Ukraine and the UK engaging in child abuse.
Examples of blogs published by the FBI that promote conspiracy theories targeting the US, Germany, Ukraine and other NATO aligned countries.
Conspiracy travels across pro-Kremlin online ecosystem
The transmission of the FBI’s allegations across the online information environment highlights the porous nature of a diverse platform landscape, exploited to spread pro-Kremlin disinformation. It also underlines how online fringe communities can inadvertently serve as conduits for influence operations targeting voters in Western democracies.
According to Henry Adams, who leads Trust & Safety partnerships and strategy at Resolver, a Kroll business, “ultimately, this is a question of cut-through.” adding that “while this particular influence operation fortunately had limited identifiable impact on the election outcome, the coordination involved, and the organic spread across domestic conspiracy groups demands continued vigilance for counter-disinformation teams and the many others involved in safeguarding election integrity globally”.
Websites
A review of the online engagement received by the FBI website between April and June 2024 revealed a steady increase in traffic, averaging 32,000 views over the examined period. In June 2024, it was most frequently accessed by users residing in countries including Czechia, Turkey, and Georgia. This steady increase in engagement suggests the tactic of framing the pro-Kremlin narratives in the discourse of human rights advocacy has been successful in attracting an audience over time.
High access rates from countries of strategic importance to the Kremlin with regards to NATO expansion and membership of the EU indicate a broader intent to undermine cohesion and public support for these institutions.
However, it is noteworthy that the FBI’s own website has limited geographical penetration into the UK, US, and EU Member States in isolation, creating the need for further amplification in order to gain traction with their ultimate target audiences.
A review of the online engagement received by the FBI website from April to June 2024 revealed that it received 32,000 views per month, including from users residing in NATO countries.
The same day that the FBI published the original blog, the allegations were also published by ‘The Intel Drop’, another pro-Kremlin media outlet. This second blog was also posted on a channel associated with the same outlet on a private messaging app where it had received just 33 views at the time of analysis.
On the same day as the FBI published its blog, another pro-Kremlin media outlet published the same allegations on their website and social media account on a private messaging app.
A similar review of the ‘The Intel Drop’ website engagement between April to June 2024 revealed that it experienced a sharp increase in traffic between May and June, averaging 247,000 visits. In June 2024, it was also most frequently accessed by users in EU and NATO countries including Germany, U.S., Estonia, and Italy.
This demonstrates how pro-Kremlin media outlets help to increase the reach of the FBI’s publications into regions where their website has low traction, but are the target audience for disinformation spread by the group.
A review of the online engagement received by The Intel Drop website from April to May 2024 shows that it receives over 247,000 monthly visits primarily from users residing in EU and NATO countries.
Private messaging app
Key to the amplification of the FBI’s claims of a secretive pedophile cabal in the British political establishment was a network of pro-Kremlin and conspiracy theorist channels on a private messaging app.
These channels are public and open to anyone who creates an account and joins the group. They also frequently share each others’ content, which creates a ‘rabbit hole’ for users to discover other channels that post narratives that conform to their beliefs.
With lesser moderation than mainstream platforms, the dissemination of false narratives through these private messaging channels act as echo chambers where these narratives circulate unchallenged, contributing towards belief in pro-Kremlin messaging and fringe conspiracy theories over time.
Resolver analysed the spread of the disinformation campaign across a private messaging app between July 1 and July 10, 2024. Posts containing the allegations initially shared by ‘The Intel Drop’ were quickly shared across at least 18 other channels with audiences ranging from 4,000 to 100,000 subscribers.
Graph showing the distribution of subscribers across the 18 channels that amplified the pro-Kremlin disinformation on the private messaging app between 1- 10 July, 2024
Engagement received by these narratives exhibited major and minor peaks on July 1 and July 3, 2024, respectively. At the time of analysis, posts sharing these allegations have accrued around 75,900 views on the private messaging app.
Graph showing the reach and number of forwards received by the pro-Kremlin narratives on the private messaging app between 1-10 July, 2024.
Despite the original post by the ‘The Intel Drop’ receiving modest engagement on its channel on the private messaging app, the same narratives were quickly picked up by other pro-Kremlin channels with larger followings.
‘The Islander’, another pro-Kremlin channel, amplified the same allegations hours later, gaining over 58,200 views. These allegations were also shared by channels dedicated to disseminating the Kremlin’s messaging regarding the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict including Slavyangrad, Intel Republic, and UKRLeaks.
Post by The Islander channel helped the child trafficking allegations gain a larger audience on the platform.
Posts sharing the FBI allegations were also amplified in channels promoting conspiracy, anti-vaxx and anti-establishment narratives including, a fringe UK-focussed channel that uploaded several posts detailing the allegations furthered in the original blog.
Example of a post sharing the child trafficking allegations in a UK-based channel that frequently posts about anti-vaxx conspiracy theories.
Mainstream platforms
The FBI’s narrative gained the most traction on mainstream platforms, with mentions and engagement with the topic peaking during the election and the day after, propelled by posts from influential conspiracy theorists and pro-Kremlin accounts.
Resolver measured the spread of the pro-Kremlin disinformation across mainstream platforms between June 30 and July 10, 2024, discovering that posts amplifying the false allegations received 1698 mentions from 1671 unique authors over the examined time frame.
Graph showing the volume of mentions furthering the pro-Kremlin narratives on mainstream platforms between June 30 and July 10, 2024.
Mentions gained by these allegations peaked on July 5 with 979 mentions, while engagement spiked on July 4, the day of the UK general election, amassing a reach of over 750,000 impressions across mainstream platforms before witnessing a sharp decrease from July 5 onwards.
Graph showing the reach of the pro-Kremlin narratives across mainstream platforms between 30 June and 10 July 2024.
On one mainstream platform, the narratives were amplified by popular accounts belonging to Mira Terada and other pro-Kremlin and QAnon conspiracy influencers. The highest performing post was made by a US-based QAnon influencer account with a prior history of promoting conspiracy theories on mainstream platforms. This post received over 124,000 views, 2,300 likes, and 1,600 reposts at the time of analysis.
Simeon Boikov (also known as “Aussie Cossack”), a pro-Kremlin disinformation actor who frequently collaborates with Terada, also shared the allegations by the FBI, receiving over 67,000 views and 114 reposts.
Example of a post by Mira Terada, the director of FBI furthering the pro-Kremlin allegations on a mainstream platform.
Accounts engaging with or sharing narratives from the FBI blog typically used it as confirmation of already held beliefs in conspiracy theories about a secretive paedophile cabal. Replies to posts mentioning the FBI’s allegations frequently shared longstanding QAnon-related claims regarding alleged paedophile networks amongst the UK and US political, economic, and cultural elites.
In some cases, posts called on the British electorate to consider who they vote for based on the false child trafficking claims, illustrating the contagion effect of these allegations into online political discourse ahead of the UK general elections.
Word cloud of mentions furthering the pro-Kremlin narratives across mainstream platforms between 30 June and 10 July, 2024.
Repeated exposure to pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns, particularly those targeted at domestic audiences predisposed to consuming conspiracy and anti-establishment narratives will likely contribute towards to a border erosion in public trust in the democratic political system, the authenticity of traditional media, and the efficacy of democratic processes over the long term.
Conclusion
As we pass the halfway mark in the “Year of Elections”, it is highly likely that the Kremlin will continue to use tried and tested techniques to influence democratic processes in nations of geostrategic importance.
These operations will continue to employ the digital assets developed in recent years to disseminate and amplify its messaging, involving disinformation influencers and organisations, alternative media outlets, and mainstream and alt-tech platforms. With the objective of exacerbating internal divisions with polarising claims, they will likely continue to echo conspiracy theorist beliefs held by fringe target audiences in order to get a foothold for these narratives.
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