Russian authorities have funneled significant funds into creating a network of hundreds of thousands of fake social media accounts, forging news sites, and disseminating false information.
The Putin regime allocates up to two billion euros annually for large-scale disinformation operations in Germany, aiming to influence the outcomes of the upcoming German Bundestag elections, set to occur next …
While I have little doubt they are spending many millions on it, I sort of doubt it’s billions of euros. They link a telegram source, which talks about German Intelligence. Not impossible, but not an easily verifiable source.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong.
It just seems rather unlikely they are spending that much on disinformation when the have a real and present war in front of them with huge hardware/personnel loss, and have a waning treasury.
This is hybrid war. AfD and other Russian friendly parties winning means less or less reliable aid to Ukraine
They want to spend 2 billion euros on disinformation so they don’t have to spend 5 billion euros on their military.
For example, if they spent 2 billion getting Trump elected and he cuts off US support for Ukraine, that 5 billion would be an absolute bargain for them.
I hear you, but what does it really matter? An (or many) orders of magnitude more than any other country would spend, or even consider.
They’re doing it because it’s working. They’ve got America on the ropes and didn’t have to nuke anyone.
Maybe they meant rubles.