Executive Summary

“Secondary Infektion” is the name given to a long-running Russian information operation, encompassing multiple campaigns on social media run by a central entity, which was already active in 2014 and that was still running in early 2020.

Secondary Infektion targeted countries across Europe and North America with fake stories and forged documents. Its focus and areas of interest were often of a diplomatic and foreign policy nature: it appeared primarily aimed at provoking tensions between Russia’s perceived enemies, and its stories typically concerned relationships between governments and often specifically focused on government representatives. It is also notable for launching smear campaigns against Kremlin critics, and for targeting presidential candidates in 2016 in the U.S., in 2017 in France, in Germany, Sweden and elsewhere.

Little is yet known about the central entity behind the operation: its identity is the single most pressing question to emerge from this study.[1] The Facebook security team uncovered a small cluster of accounts run by the operation for the first time in May 2019 and provided the original attribution to actors based in Russia. This in turn enabled others to identify related clusters and stories linked to Secondary Infektion in late 2019 and early 2020. From November 2019 to May 2020, the Graphika team uncovered over 2,500 pieces of content that Secondary Infektion posted across six years, seven languages, and more than 300 platforms and web forums, from social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit to niche discussion forums in Pakistan and Australia, providing an unprecedented view of the operation’s breadth and depth.

This report is the first systematic examination of Secondary Infektion’s campaigns. It reveals the most comprehensive picture yet of this actor’s strategic objectives and tactical priorities across the years.

The scale of the operation is impressive, but the range of topics it focused on was relatively small. In descending order of frequency, the operation posted about nine main themes:

  • Ukraine as a failed state or unreliable partner
  • The United States and NATO as aggressive and interfering in other countries
  • Europe as weak and divided
  • Critics of the Russian government as morally corrupt, alcoholic, or otherwise mentally unstable
  • Muslims as aggressive invaders
  • The Russian government as the victim of Western hypocrisy or plots
  • Western elections as rigged and candidates who criticized the Kremlin as unelectable
  • Turkey as an aggressive and destabilizing state
  • World sporting bodies and competitions as unfair, unprofessional, and Russophobic

While active on Reddit, Medium, Twitter, Quora, Facebook, and YouTube, Secondary Infektion used blogging forums more extensively than it used the main social media platforms. It typically worked by posting false and politically explosive stories - often based on images of “leaked” documents - on internet forums and then amplified them in various languages across a range of platforms. The “leaks” typically exposed some dramatic geopolitical scandal, such as a prominent Kremlin critic’s corrupt dealings or secret American plans to overthrow pro-Kremlin governments around the world.  On most occasions, the operation created a new account to post each version of the story and abandoned each account as soon as it had posted. We found no evidence of Secondary Infektion using ads to amplify these stories.

The earliest traces of Secondary Infektion activity online point to campaigns targeting the Russian opposition in early 2014. When Russia annexed Crimea in February-March 2014, Secondary Infektion shifted to attacking Ukraine, first in Russian and then in English and German as well. With time, it added more targets and more languages, reaching its peak production in late 2018 and early 2019. In May 2019, Facebook exposed the first assets.[2] Working out from those leads, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) produced the first substantial cross-platform analysis.[3] After that exposure, Secondary Infektion cut back sharply in output, but it was still posting at a lower rate in early 2020. One of its latest posts accused the United States of creating the Covid-19 coronavirus in a secret weapons lab in Kazakhstan, in a striking return to the operation’s intellectual roots.[4] 

Like the Russian Internet Research Agency[5] and Russian military intelligence (commonly known as the GRU),[6] Secondary Infektion paid attention to elections and attempted to disrupt these democratic processes - in the United States in 2016,[7] in France in 2017,[8] and in Sweden in 2018,[9] among others. That noted, election interference was never the operation’s main focus. Far more, it aimed to exacerbate divisions between countries, trying to set Poles against Germans, Germans against Americans, Americans against Britons, and absolutely everyone against Ukrainians.

Forged Documents

Secondary Infektion stands out for its routine use of forged documents, sometimes surprisingly poorly crafted: in this regard, it is reminiscent of the early history of Russian active measures.[10] Other actors have at times used forged documents in deceptive online campaigns, but none have used this tactic with such volume, consistency, and persistence. Graphika has identified more than 250 suspected forgeries, from letters to petitions, that the operation launched online.

The operation impersonated many Western leaders in its creation of forgeries. It included fake letters, tweets and blog posts from leaders and officials including US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly, various members of the US Senate Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees, representatives of the German, British, and Ukrainian governments, and former national leaders including Carl Bildt (Sweden) and Mikheil Saakashvili (Georgia).

Secondary Infektion image

Screenshot of a tweet attributed to U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, accusing the UK of interfering in the U.S.midterm elections of November 2018. Secondary Infektion used the screenshot as the basis of articles alleging UK interference with U.S. elections.[11] 

Secondary Infektion image

Forged letter attributed to members of the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and addressed to then-Secretary of State John Kerry, urging him to support exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen against the Turkish government. The letter was embedded in Secondary Infektion stories in English[12] and Russian[13] in early 2016, at the height of Russia’s anti-Turkish campaign.

Secondary Infektion image

A fake blog post attributed to Swedish politician Carl Bildt and posted by Secondary Infektion in November 2018.[14] The text of the post is the work of the operation and calls for a “Mueller Commission”-style investigation into alleged interference in the Swedish election, but the headline is that of an original Carl Bildt blog referring to the Syrian conflict.[15] It is likely that Secondary Infektion took a screenshot of the blog and photoshopped their own text in, but omitted to change the headline.

The operation also published forged documents, images and videos that it attributed to a wide range of non-governmental organizations, from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and environmental group Greenpeace.

Secondary Infektion image

Left, video attributed to Greenpeace that was shared by a Secondary Infektion asset,[16] originally posted on YouTube by a single-use burner account. Right, letter attributed to the CPJ, embedded in a number of Secondary Infektion stories.[17] Both Greenpeace and the CPJ confirmed to Graphika that these were forgeries.

Almost none of those efforts achieved measurable impact. Particularly between late 2016 and early 2020, Secondary Infektion relied on high OPSEC single-use burner accounts for almost everything it posted (it typically created, used and abandoned each account in less than an hour). This meant that the operators never had the chance to build an audience: each time they created a new account, they effectively reset their following to zero. It would be hard to envisage a less viral strategy. In all its years, only one Secondary Infektion effort really achieved traction in the mainstream discussion of targeted countries: the leak of apparently genuine US-UK trade documents on the eve of Britain’s general election in 2019, as exposed by our team in November 2019.[18] Another enduring mystery around the operation is what the operators thought they were doing and why they kept on doing it across six years of activity when their stories so often died unnoticed.    

Unique Features

Secondary Infektion is unique for the sheer range of platforms on which it posted: no other operation from any country that Graphika has studied even comes close. This operational feature could have been a security measure, as it reduced the impact that any one platform could have on the operation and simultaneously rendered coordinated enforcement and investigations harder.

The operation’s lack of viral engagement also sets it apart. Almost none of the operation’s posts across six years of activity achieved any measurable engagement, in terms of shares, likes and positive reactions across platforms. This may indicate that the operators were not interested in engagement metrics - for example, if they were driven by production quotas rather than engagement targets - or that they were using some other form of metrics not visible to outside observers. The lasting mismatch between effort expended and apparent impact gained is yet another mystery about this operation.

Secondary Infektion is also remarkable for its high operational security (OPSEC): multiple social media platforms who partnered with our team on this investigation have observed that the people behind this operation were sophisticated at hiding their traces consistently across the years. As of May 2020, this operation has not been directly attributed to a particular actor or entity. A number of converging signals, from digital forensics indicators identified by our team or provided by the platforms to the clues of language, content, and context, help establish that the operation was run from Russia, but which organization(s) and individual(s) within Russia are responsible is still unknown.

The high OPSEC also made it difficult to expose the full scope of the operation. Secondary Infektion deployed single-use burner accounts so consistently that moving from one campaign, forgery, and story to the next proved difficult, because most accounts only posted one article each. Reconstituting the broader picture of the operation presented a significant and time-consuming investigative challenge. This report is the first large-scale analysis of Secondary Infektion to look beyond anecdotal descriptions of individual stories and identify its systematic patterns.  

Nevertheless, our report remains a snapshot and its limitations must be considered: alongside additional stories by the operation that may remain to be discovered, it is highly likely that a significant chunk of the operation’s archives and traces have been lost to various types of content-moderation and behavior-based enforcement efforts across the years. Secondary Infektion’s posts were consistently low-quality, often running afoul of anti-spam rules on platforms and at times generating pushback from other users who came across their content. It is likely that we will never identify all the articles that Secondary Infektion posted. Our hope is that the current report will provide a springboard for more researchers to make more discoveries and bring the full puzzle closer to completion.

Secondary Infektion image

Redditors’ reactions to Secondary Infektion piece “The Trojan Pony of Brexit.”[19] We have obscured the names of users unaffiliated with the operation.

To enable further discoveries, Graphika is sharing, alongside this report, a database of the articles that we have identified as parts of the operation and a repository of the visual assets included in those articles.

No one actor in this space has a monopoly on insights and information. As influence operations try harder to hide, all the different actors will have to work together more closely to keep on finding them.

[1] As the identity of the operator is currently unknown, it is commonly referred to by the nickname of the operation itself. “Secondary Infektion” is named after the Soviet-era “Operation Infektion,” which planted the false story that the United States had made the AIDS virus in many publications around the world. See David Robert Grimes, “Russian fake news is not new: Soviet Aids propaganda cost countless lives,” The Guardian, June 14, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/jun/14/russian-fake-news-is-not-new-soviet-aids-propaganda-cost-countless-lives.

[2] Nathaniel Gleicher, “Removing more coordinated inauthentic behavior from Russia,” Facebook, May 6, 2019, https://about.fb.com/news/2019/05/more-cib-from-russia/. This is not the longest running network known: an Iranian network that Facebook exposed in May 2020 operated sporadically from 2011 to 2020. See Graphika’s report, “Iran’s Broadcaster: Inauthentic Behavior,” Graphika, May 5, 2020, https://graphika.com/reports/irans-broadcaster-inauthentic-behavior/.

[3] Ben Nimmo, Graham Brookie et al., “Operation Secondary Infektion,” Atlantic Council, June 22, 2019, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Operation-Secondary-Infektion_English.pdf.

This is the report which gave the operation its popular name, “Secondary Infektion”.

[4] Adam Rawnsley, “Russian Trolls Hype Coronavirus and Giuliani Conspiracies,” The Daily Beast, April 9, 2020, https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-trolls-hype-coronavirus-and-giuliani-conspiracies.

[5] Secondary Infektion targeted sectarian tensions in Northern Ireland, among other issues. To avoid confusion, this report refers to the Irish Republican Army as the “IRA,” the Real Irish Republican Army as the “Real IRA,” and the Internet Research Agency as the “Russian IRA.”

[6] For the Russian IRA’s election interference, see Indictment 1:18-cr-00032-DLF, “United States of America v. Internet Research Agency LLC et al.,” US Department of Justice, February 16, 2018, https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download. For the GRU, see indictment 1:18-cr-00215-ABJ, “United States of America v. Viktor Borisovich Netyshko et al.,” US Department of Justice, July 13, 2018, https://www.justice.gov/file/1080281/download.

[7] See, for example, the article by the Secondary Infektion persona “Lukas Esmerald,” “Hillary Clinton, a killer (proclaimed) above the law,” in homment.com, October 31, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418154348/https://homment.com/Hillary-Clinton-a-killer-proclaimed-above-the-law.  

[8] For example, persona “DreuxVachon,” “Emmanuel Macron: a new hope of migrants in Europe?”, Medium, March 16, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418160806/https://medium.com/@DreuxVachon/emmanuel-macron-a-new-hope-of-migrants-in-europe-b6d07e0a111b. We are grateful to Quora for bringing this post to our attention.

[9] See for example the article by persona “kinstry,” “Ukraine ‘drowns’ The Sweden Democrats?”, defendingthetruth.com, August 30, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200421092045/https://defendingthetruth.com/threads/ukraine-drowns-the-sweden-democrats.102944/.

[10] Rid, Thomas. Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare. United Kingdom: Profile, 2020.

[11] Persona “Chris Woods,” “UK's GCHQ to support Democrats during the 2018 midterms,” ozpolitic.com, August 3, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200521201759/http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1533288024/10. The same persona posted it to cssforum.com.pk, a forum for the Pakistan civil service, on the same day: https://web.archive.org/web/20200521202026/http://www.cssforum.com.pk/css-compulsory-subjects/current-affairs/120717-uks-gchq-support-democrats-during-2018-midterms.html.

[12] Among others, by persona “Ari Pellms,” “Will American senators support Fethullah Gulen in his dispute with Turkey?”, Medium, February 18, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20200513231939/https://medium.com/@AriPellms/will-american-senators-support-fethullah-gulen-in-his-dispute-with-turkey-479c44b7519b.

[13] Among others, by persona “Иннокентий Ньюсовский” (“Innocent Newsovsky”), “Американские сенаторы поддержат Фетхуллаха Гюлена в споре с Турцией” (“American senators will support Fethullah Gulen in his dispute with Turkey”), mirtesen.ru, February 20, 2016, https://ino-news.mirtesen.ru/blog/43222494738/Amerikanskie-senatoryi-podderzhat-Fethullaha-Gyulena-v-spore-s-T?utm_referrer=mirtesen.ru.

[14] Persona “Norman Mogano,” “En Suecia proponen crear su propia ‘Comisión de Mueller’” (“Proposal in Sweden to create their own ‘Mueller Commission’”), globedia.com, November 16, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418192247/http://globedia.com/suecia-proponen-crear-propia-comision-mueller.  

[15] Carl Bildt, “Ny dramatik i syriska tragedin” (“New drama in the Syrian tragedy”), carlbildt.wordpress.com, April 9, 2918, https://carlbildt.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/ny-dramatik-i-syriska-tragedian/.

[16] Persona “Chloe Rebelish,” “Radioactive Rain Over Europe (Greenpeace)”, YouTube, July 22, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mu1tvyfD-U&t=2s.

[17] Persona “EnniLowre,” “Corruption in international sports supervisory authorities. Ban of meldonium is due to unfair competition between pharmaceutical companies,” topix.com, April 15, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20170802165139/http://www.topix.com/forum/sports/T5KD8MKFTICE78AT7.

[18]See Ben Nimmo, “UK Trade Leaks,” Graphika, December 2, 2019, https://graphika.com/reports/UK-trade-leaks/.

[20] See the Graphika team, “Iran’s Broadcaster: Inauthentic Behavior,” Graphika, May 5, 2020, https://graphika.com/reports/irans-broadcaster-inauthentic-behavior/.

[21] Twitter Safety, “Information operations directed at Hong Kong,” Twitter, August 19, 2019, https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2019/information_operations_directed_at_Hong_Kong.html.

[22] For example Nathaniel Gleicher, “Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior in Spain,” Facebook, September 20, 2019, https://about.fb.com/news/2019/09/removing-coordinated-inauthentic-behavior-in-spain/.

[23] See page 8 and footnote 17.

[24] For examples of previous targeting of the White Helmets by the GRU, see for instance: “From Russia With Blogs,” Graphika, Feb. 12th 2020, https://www.graphika.com/reports/from-russia-with-blogs/. For targeting by the IRA, see: io-archive.org. For broader context, see: Starbird, Kate, et al. "Ecosystem or echo-system? exploring content sharing across alternative media domains." Twelfth International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media. 2018.

[25] Nika Aleksejeva, “Secondary Infektion redux?  Suspected Russian intelligence operation targets Greenland,” DFRLab, November 13, 2019, https://medium.com/dfrlab/secondary-infektion-redux-suspected-russian-intelligence-operation-targets-greenland-c4e04deb27c5.

[26] Nika Aleksejeva, “Lingering Infektion: Latvian operation mimicked Secondary Infektion tactics,” DFRLab, December 10, 2019, https://medium.com/dfrlab/lingering-infektion-latvian-operation-mimicked-secondary-infektion-tactics-bc0bb62eacaa.

[27] u/worstnerd, “Suspected campaign from Russia on Reddit,” Reddit, December 6, 2019, https://www.reddit.com/r/redditsecurity/comments/e74nml/suspected_campaign_from_russia_on_reddit/.

[28] Ben Nimmo, “UK Trade Leaks,” Graphika, December 2, 2019, updated December 8, 2019, https://graphika.com/reports/UK-trade-leaks/.

[29] Insikt Group, “Intent to Infekt: ‘Operation Pinball’ Tactics Reminiscent of ‘Operation Secondary Infektion’,” Recorded Future, April 8, 2020, https://www.recordedfuture.com/operation-pinball-tactics/.

[30] Adam Rawnsley, “Russian Trolls Hype Coronavirus and Giuliani Conspiracies,” Daily Beast, April 9, 2020, https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-trolls-hype-coronavirus-and-giuliani-conspiracies?ref=author.

[31] For a rapid overview of attribution methods, see: www.attribution.news.

[32] Nathaniel Gleicher, “Removing More Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior From Russia,” Facebook, May 6, 2019, https://about.fb.com/news/2019/05/more-cib-from-russia/.

[33] User “worstnerd,” “Suspected campaign from Russia on Reddit,” Reddit, December 6, 2019, https://www.reddit.com/r/redditsecurity/comments/e74nml/suspected_campaign_from_russia_on_reddit/.

[34] Tulay Karadeniz and Maria Kiselyova, “Turkey downs Russian warplane near Syria border, Putin warns of 'serious consequences',” Reuters, November 25, 2015, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-turkey/turkey-downs-russian-warplane-near-syria-border-putin-warns-of-serious-consequences-idUSKBN0TD0IR20151125.

[35] Persona “Steven Laack,” “Red Alert: Advice against all travel. Or why would anyone go to Turkey these days?”, blogspot.com, December 1, 2015, https://doubtingsteven.blogspot.com/2015/12/red-alert-advice-against-all-travel-or.html.

[36] Persona “pormatt,” “Spain's Intel: Remainers Plan to Assassinate Boris Johnson,” politicaldiscussion.net, August 13, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418172422/https://politicaldiscussion.net/threads/spains-intel-remainers-plan-to-assassinate-boris-johnson.254/ .

[37] Unattributed post, “United States to nominate Ukrainian President Poroshenko for a Nobel Peace Prize,” homment.com, 27 May, 2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418140715/https://homment.com/ukrainenobel.

[38] Persona “vicmilosh,” “Банальный закат Европы” (“Europe’s banal sunset”), stena.ee, November 18, 2019, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418202116/https://www.stena.ee/blog/banalnyj-zakat-evropy.  

[39] Persona “demonmanz,” “Chancellor of Germany and female alcoholism,” Reddit, April 10, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418161123/https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/64ig7s/chancellor_of_germany_and_female_alcoholism/.  

[40] Persona “Josef Hashever,” “Kaczynski's FRAXA threatens Europe! Why the truth is concealed?”, beforeitsnews.com, April 13, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418150138/https://beforeitsnews.com/eu/2016/04/kaczynskis-fraxa-threatens-europe-why-the-truth-is-concealed-2602086.html.

[41] Persona “Joe Lane,” “The EU Puts Off the Pan-European Recognition of Armenian Genocide Because of Turkey,” Medium, 22 October 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418183806/https://medium.com/@lanejo/the-eu-puts-off-the-pan-european-recognition-of-armenian-genocide-because-of-turkey-87b3479b5af3.

[42] Persona “robeharty,” “IRE enlists Muslim militants!”, Reddit, April 22, 2019, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418195148/https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/bfzfbb/ira_enlists_muslim_militants/.

[43] For example persona “Josef Hashever,” “‘Polish Auschwitz and Treblinka’ surpass Volhynia, Ukrainian official says,” beforeitsnews.com, Juy 11, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418203351/https://beforeitsnews.com/opinion/2016/07/polish-auschwitz-and-treblinka-surpass-volhynia-ukrainian-official-says-2456706.html.

[44] Persona “Fellow Citizen”, “  German police: migrants threaten to assault women on St. Valentine’s Day,” Medium, February 3, 2016,  https://web.archive.org/web/20200422230722/https://medium.com/@FellowCitizen/german-police-migrants-threaten-to-assault-women-on-st-valentine-s-day-8784af3049e2.

[45] Guest user, “What does Trump's support of Scottish nationalists portend for the EU?”, homment.com, June 7, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418170800/https://homment.com/kkj0jm76phAHWgoYSjgx.

[46] Persona “Leaky Leak,” “Being friendly American way. The USA was spying on the British Royal Family,” indymedia.org.uk, April 5, 2026,  http://web.archive.org/web/20200418145314/https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2016/04/524701.html.

[47] Persona “Steven Laack,” “Jewish exodus from Ukraine,” blogspot.com, May 15, 2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418140311/https://doubtingsteven.blogspot.com/2015/05/jewish-exodus-from-ukraine.html.

[48] Persona “Albert Fulop,” “Ukraine after presidential elections. Radicals threaten national minorities,” Medium, May 28, 2019, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418195707/https://medium.com/@fulopalb/ukraine-after-presidential-elections-radicals-threaten-national-minorities-352267d3c428.  

[49] Persona “MilDavid,” “Ukraine puts Donald Trump on blacklist,” homment.com, June 20, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200422232829/https://homment.com/yiPdDhuIJ2S44Lx0YEkX; persona ”AdkinsJan,” “Ukraine started supplying Kurds with Javelins,” homment.com, June 25, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418171255/https://homment.com/evApUNhtKfRrYuS6aAjX.

[50] Persona “ArmanRivar,” “USA and UK: policy of the biggest fraud,” Reddit, April 11, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418170322/https://www.reddit.com/r/Nigeria/comments/8bhn5i/usa_and_uk_policy_of_the_biggest_fraud/.  

[51] Persona “Cory MIller,” “What does Trump’s support of Scottish nationalists portend for the EU?”, indybay.org, June 7, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200404071417/https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/06/07/18815543.php.  

[52] Persona “Josef Hashever,” “Caspian littoral states staying in expectation of ‘colored’ revolutions,” beforeitsnews.com, July 22, 2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418142131/https://beforeitsnews.com/protests-demonstrations/2015/07/caspian-littoral-states-staying-in-expectation-of-colored-revolutions-2455918.html.

[53] Persona “Military Observer,” “Flowers for Kim Jong-Un or Operation White Chrysanthemum,” Quora, November 10, 2017, https://archive.vn/wip/Y1q9C.

[54] Persona “Sam Alonso,” “EU provides support to Catalan separatists,” September 29, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418164035/https://defendingthetruth.com/threads/eu-provides-support-to-catalan-separatists.62578/.  

[55] Persona “Joe Lane,” “The EU Puts Off the Pan-European Recognition of Armenian Genocide Because of Turkey,” Medium, October 22, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418183806/https://medium.com/@lanejo/the-eu-puts-off-the-pan-european-recognition-of-armenian-genocide-because-of-turkey-87b3479b5af3.

[56] Persona “Steven Lang,” “US and Poland promote the UNSC resolution on reparations from Germany,” Medium, May 24, 2019, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418195630/https://medium.com/@langste/us-and-poland-promote-the-unsc-resolution-on-reparations-from-germany-efd02b778c86.

[57] Unattributed article, “Hillary Clinton, a killer (proclaimed) above the law,” homment.com, October 31, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418154348/https://homment.com/Hillary-Clinton-a-killer-proclaimed-above-the-law; persona “Lukas Esmeraldas,” “Who else is pumping money into the election campaign of Clinton?”, defendingthetruth.com, November 5, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418154542/https://defendingthetruth.com/threads/who-else-is-pumping-money-into-the-election-campaign-of-clinton.57635/.  

[58] Persona “Edgars Paukas,” “NED is Concerned with the Upcoming Elections in Latvia,” Medium, October 3, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418181918/https://medium.com/@paukas/ned-is-concerned-with-the-upcoming-elections-in-latvia-cceb63b0d3c9. The authors are grateful to Adam Rawnsley of the Daily Beast, who first identified this post.

[59] Persona “Andrew Hobbs,” “Another ‘Mueller Commission’ is Suggested to be Created in Sweden,” defendingthetruth.com, November 14, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418191755/https://defendingthetruth.com/threads/another-mueller-commission-is-suggested-to-be-created-in-sweden.106029/.

[60] Persona “Fellow Citizen,” “German police: migrants threaten to assault women on St. Valentine’s Day,” Medium, February 3, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20200422230722/https://medium.com/@FellowCitizen/german-police-migrants-threaten-to-assault-women-on-st-valentine-s-day-8784af3049e2.  

[61] Persona “Lunatic Joe,” “Migration crisis is an accelerator of European nationalism,” indymedia.org.uk, October 12, 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20200426133156/https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2015/10/522657.html. A Russian translation was posted by operation persona “Ino-News” at https://web.archive.org/web/20200426134253/https://hugeclick.ru/migracionnyi-krizis-katalizator-nacionalizma-es/3/. Reverse searching the image with Google, Yandex, and Tin-Eye showed that it was not posted anywhere else.

[62] Persona “Limkos Stamp,” “Dome Mosque,” Medium, May 6, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418151326/https://medium.com/@Limkos_Stamp/dome-mosque-a1bbe842c39e.

[63] Persona “Rob Lloys,” “Another wave of immigration to hit Europe as EU leaders admit they are powerless in Aleppo,” Medium, December 21, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418155543/https://medium.com/@RobLloys/another-wave-of-immigration-to-hit-europe-as-eu-leaders-admit-they-are-powerless-in-aleppo-bcd03ffa4415.

[64] Persona “Ail Green,” Muslim wave is to cover the United Kingdom before referendum,” Medium, May 10, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418151527/https://medium.com/@AilGreen/muslim-wave-is-to-cover-the-united-kingdom-before-referendum-3a9fd5391e61.

[65] The tweet is archived at https://archive.vn/3fVWC.

[66] Dion Nissembaum, Emre Peker, and James Marson, “Turkey Shoots Down Russian Military Jet,” Wall Street Journal, November 24, 2015, https://www.wsj.com/articles/turkey-shoots-down-jet-near-syria-border-1448356509.

[67] Katherine Costello, “Russia’s Use of Media and Information Operations in Turkey,” RAND Corporation, 2018, https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE278.html.

[68] Persona “Infomaniac,” “True reasons of the recent attack on Su-24,” Medium, December 7, 2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418143020/https://medium.com/@infomaniac/true-reasons-of-the-recent-attack-on-su-24-e0650adc3f8d;  persona “Truthseeker,” “The US exposes ties between Turkey and Jabhat al-Nusra?”, Medium, February 12, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418143458/https://medium.com/@truthseekerNew/the-us-exposes-ties-between-turkey-and-jabhat-al-nusra-ce063989414f; persona “Dusty L.A,” “Turkey was about to open second front vs Armenia,” Medium, April 6, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418145657/https://medium.com/@DustyLA/turkey-was-about-to-open-second-front-vs-armenia-6a60fa6376ea.

[69] “WADA Statement: Independent Investigation confirms Russian State manipulation of the doping control process,” WADA, Juy 18, 2016, https://www.wada-ama.org/en/media/news/2016-07/wada-statement-independent-investigation-confirms-russian-state-manipulation-of.

[70] Persona “Steven Laack,” “Corruption in international sports supervisory authorities. Ban of meldonium is due to unfair competition between pharmaceutical companies,” blogspot.com, April 19, 2016, https://doubtingsteven.blogspot.com/2016/04/corruption-in-international-sports.html.

[71] Persona “Politgraben,” “Korruption in WADA - Play True?” (“Corruption in WADA - play true?”), wordpress.com, April 22, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418150741/https://politgraben.wordpress.com/2016/04/22/korruption-in-wada-play-true/.  

[72] Persona “Ino-News,” “Всемирное антидопинговое сообщество попалось на коррупции” (“WADA caught in corruption”), via e-news.pro, April 22, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20200422234458/https://www.e-news.pro/news/110649-vsemirnoe-antidopingovoe-soobschestvo-popalos-na-korrupcii.html.

[73] Klement Piccard, “Carnival in Rio with US laboratories’ prescriptions: invisible doping and Zika virus,” Medium, July 22, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418153454/https://medium.com/@piccard/carnival-in-rio-with-us-laboratories-prescriptions-invisible-doping-and-zika-virus-87c19ea6ab34.

[74] Persona “amateur123,” “Independent Journalists: the new faces, though old methods. Who ‘throws dead cats on the table’ today?”, Medium, May 31, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20170115210538/https://medium.com/@amateur123/independent-journalists-the-new-faces-though-old-methods-d12c8741602f.

[75] Persona “Tom Sallee,” “The unfair competition,” Reddit, September 28, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418164002/https://www.reddit.com/r/antivirus/comments/72ywku/the_unfair_competition/.  

[76] Persona “Bloger_Nasralny,” “Продолжение охоты на ведьм или спасибо НАТО за рекламу” (“Continuation of the witch hunt, or thanks, NATO, for the advertisement”), livejournal.com, July 2, 2019, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418200629/https://bloger-nasralny.livejournal.com/53584.html.

[77] Ben Nimmo and Michael Sheldon, “Russian Op 3: The Blue Man and the Mole,” DFRLab, June 22, 2019, https://medium.com/dfrlab/russian-op-3-the-blue-man-and-the-mole-3ba77b9eb955. For full disclosure, the lead author of the current paper also led the DFRLab’s original exposure of Secondary Infektion.

[78] Gianluca Mezzofiore, “Russia's best troll 'Jenna Abrams' is back with an incredible blog post about AI and the Matrix,” Mashable, November 9, 2017, https://mashable.com/2017/11/09/jenna-abrams-russian-troll-account-ai-matrix/.

[79] Casey Michel, “Russian trolling ahead of the midterm elections is a mixture of the weird and the pathetic,” ThinkProgress.org, November 6, 2018, https://thinkprogress.org/usaira-russian-trolling-ahead-of-the-midterm-elections-is-a-mixture-of-the-weird-and-the-pathetic-c64b0d120ae5/. The IRA site is archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20181125143657/https://usaira.ru/.

[80] Persona “Robert Porter”, “EU Rejects Cooperation with Foreign Far-Right Forces”, playbuzz, October 23, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418184821/https://www.playbuzz.com/item/55cdcf37-d7c7-4a5b-847d-dbe218f89cbb.

[81] Persona “Stanislav Melanich”, “В погоне за грантами: 12 июня Навальный анонсировал несанкционированный митинг” ("Chasing grants: Navalny announces unsanctioned rally for 12 June"), newsland, June 6, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418194509/https://newsland.com/user/4297838887/content/meditsinskii-genotsid-po-ukrainski-kor-difteriia-ili-sama-reforma-unichtozhit-ukraintsev/6688826.

[82] Persona “Stanislav Melanich”, “Кремлевская марионетка” (“Kremlin puppet”), December 30, 2014, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418134927/https://bloger-nasralny.livejournal.com/2014/12/30/.

[83] Persona “James Alkirby,” “Ukrainian view of the future of Russia,” Medium, August 31, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418175046/https://medium.com/@alkirby/ukrainian-view-of-the-future-of-russia-dca036fe2177.

[84] Unattributed article, “Elections of Merkel - let the whole world wait,” homment.com, June 29, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418162244/https://homment.com/elections-of-Merkel-let-the-whole-world-wait.

[85] Persona “Josh Groll,” “Chancellor of Germany and female alcoholism,” Medium, April 10, 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20191210170754/https://medium.com/@JoshGroll/chancellor-of-germany-and-female-alcoholism-2c756713a7e9.

[86] Persona “Wolfgang Sperling,” “Politics And Female Alcohol Addiciton,” BuzzFeed Community, March 20, 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20200404115858/https://www.buzzfeed.com/wolfgangsperling/politics-and-female-alcohol-addiction-2vne1.

[87] Persona “Anonymous,” “Documents confirming that brothers Kaczynski are mentally retarded,” cyberguerrilla.org, April 12, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20160907184513/https://www.cyberguerrilla.org/blog/documents-confirming-that-brothers-kaczynski-are-mentally-retarded/.

[88] Persona “Stan Giklems,” “Anonymous. The Kaczynski brothers’ genetic mutation revealed! BREAKING!,” Vimeo, April 19, 2016, https://vimeo.com/163382203.

[89] Persona “Mal O,” “The European Commission: Conduct official and public medical examination of Jaroslaw Kaczynski,” avaaz.org, February 24, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418203620/https://secure.avaaz.org/en/community_petitions/The_European_Commission_Conduct_official_and_public_medical_examination_of_Jaroslaw_Kaczynski/.

[90] Persona “doubtingsteven”, “Saakashvili did not receive Hahn's assurances that 'interim' Groysman's Cabinet resigns in 2017…”, blogspot.com, May 19, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418151904/http://doubtingsteven.blogspot.com/2016/05/saakashvili-did-not-receive-hahns.html.

[91] Persona “Bloger_Nasralny”, “Саакашвили и Яценюк: борьба кланов” (“Saakashvili and Yatsenyuk: the battle of the clans”), livejournal.com, December 24, 2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418143252/https://bloger-nasralny.livejournal.com/48082.html.

[92] Persona "dhortone,” “Who's Your Boss, Dalia Grybauskaite?", buzzfeed.com, 3 December 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200404071513/https://www.buzzfeed.com/dhortone/whos-your-boss-dalia-grybauskaite-3p8ia 

[93] “Case of Abu Zubaydah v Lithuania,” European Court of Human Rights, May 31, 2018, https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#_Toc515265916.

[94] Persona "Steve Eriksson", "Lithuania Blocks the Sensational Investigation into a Torture Issue in the EU," medium.com, 11 October 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200404102152/https://medium.com/@Eriksson_91947/lithuania-blocks-the-sensational-investigation-into-a-torture-issue-in-the-eu-80f8284e8f49

[95] Persona "SteveEriksson", President of Lithuania conceals from the UN and the ECHR the names of those organised tortures of prisoners," medium.com, 8 October 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200404102229/https://medium.com/@steveeriksson/president-of-lithuania-conceals-from-the-un-and-the-echr-the-names-of-those-who-organized-tortures-2b328db9d1fc

[96] Persona "Steveriks", "Lithuania Blocks the Sensational Investigation into a Torture Issue in the EU," reddit.com, 11 October 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200404102214/https://www.reddit.com/r/lithuania/comments/9n82ub/lithuania_blocks_the_sensational_investigation/ 

[97] "Sputnik’s Disinformation as if Former Lithuanian President was KBG Agent," mythdetector.ge, https://www.mythdetector.ge/en/myth/sputniks-disinformation-if-former-lithuanian-president-was-kbg-agent

[98] “От тайного агента КГБ до феминистки: карьера Дали Грибаускайте” (“From secret KGB agent to feminist: Dalia Grybauskaite’s career”), Sputnik, September 25, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxmRSdjRLcI&feature=emb_title.

[99] Persona “andrei_kurpskiy,” “Чего боится агент «Магнолия?»”, LiveJournal, June 11, 2015, https://andrei-kurpskiy.livejournal.com/69315.html#cutid1.

[100] Persona "Max Bromberg", "ADIEU, KGB! FLIEHT DALIA GRYBAUSKAITĖ VOR IHRER KGB-VERGANGENHEIT?" (“Adieu, KGB! Is Dalia Grybauskaite fleeing from her KGB past?”) wordpress.com, 15 April 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20200411081551/https://politgraben.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/adieu-kgb-flieht-dalia-grybauskaite-vor-ihrer-kgb-vergangenheit/ 

[101] See Presentation by Camille Francois at CyberWarCon, Washington DC, November 2018: https://www.cyberwarcon.com/false-leaks

[102] Indictment 1:18-cr-00215-ABJ, “United States of America v. Viktor Borisovich Netyshko et al.,” US Department of Justice, July 13, 2018, https://www.justice.gov/file/1080281/download.

[103] Owen Gibson, “Russia accused of ‘state-sponsored doping’ as Wada calls for athletics ban,” The Guardian, November 9, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/nov/09/wada-iaaf-russia-dick-pound-banned.

[104] “WADA Statement: Independent Investigation confirms Russian State manipulation of the doping control process,” WADA, July 18, 2016, https://www.wada-ama.org/en/media/news/2016-07/wada-statement-independent-investigation-confirms-russian-state-manipulation-of.

[105] Ben Nimmo, “#PutinAtWar: WADA Hack Shows Kremlin Full-Spectrum Approach,” DFRLab, October 14, 2018, https://medium.com/dfrlab/putinatwar-wada-hack-shows-kremlin-full-spectrum-approach-21dd495f2e91.

[106] See www.io-archive.org for posts made by the Russian IRA on the #dopingleaks campaign.

[107] Persona “EnniLowre,” “Corruption in international sports supervisory authorities. Ban of meldonium is due to unfair competition between pharmaceutical companies,” topix.com, April 15, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20170802165139/http://www.topix.com/forum/sports/T5KD8MKFTICE78AT7. The same article was posted by operation persona “Steven Laack” on April 19, 2016: https://web.archive.org/web/20200424111459/https://doubtingsteven.blogspot.com/2016/04/corruption-in-international-sports.html. The Russian version was posted by persona “Ino-News” on April 21: https://maxpark.com/community/politic/content/5190995. The German edition was posted by persona “PolitGraben” on April 22: https://web.archive.org/web/20200418150704/https://de.indymedia.org/node/9139.

[109] The CPJ confirmed that they were approached by a journalist from Russian state channel Россия 24 to confirm whether the letter was fake, but there is no record of the channel running a story on it, a welcome sign of journalistic professionalism.

[110] See for example Christoph Winterbach, Lukas Eberle, and Raphael Buschmann, “How Some US Athletes Obtain Permits for Banned Medication,” Spiegel, December 1, 2016, https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/hack-by-fancy-bears-of-anti-doping-agency-usada-a-1124020.html. The authors based their report on “email communication between several employees of the American anti-doping agency USADA which was provided to the newsmagazine SPIEGEL by the hacker group Fancy Bears.”

[111] Jean-Baptiste Jeangene-Vilmer, “The Macron Leaks Operation: A Post-Mortem,” Atlantic Council, June 2019, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/The_Macron_Leaks_Operation-A_Post-Mortem.pdf. For transparency, some of the research quoted in Jeangene-Vilmer’s paper was the work of Ben Nimmo, the lead author of the current report.

[112] Persona “DreuxVachon,” “Emmanuel Macron: a new hope of migrants in Europe?”, Medium, March 16, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418160806/https://medium.com/@DreuxVachon/emmanuel-macron-a-new-hope-of-migrants-in-europe-b6d07e0a111b. We are grateful to Quora for bringing this post to our attention.

[116] Persona “Nicole Roux,” “Emmanuel Macron: Neuer Traum der europäischen Migranten?” (“Emmanuel Macron: New dream of European migrants?,” meine-news.de, March 17, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418160835/https://www.meine-news.de/aschbach/c-politik/emmanuel-macron-neuer-traum-der-europaeischen-migranten_a19842;  geschichte-wissen.de, March 17, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418160840/https://geschichte-wissen.de/foren/viewtopic.php?t=5691.

[117] Persona “Gerard,” “Garder le visage de l’Europe,” politicien.fr, March 14, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418160750/http://gerard.politicien.fr/2017/03/14/garder-le-visage-de-leurope/. The headline appears to be an attempt at a literal translation of the English “Saving Europe’s face.”

[118] Persona “StPatrick,” “Macron moves in the Élysée Palace on shoulders of migrants and jihadists,” Reddit, April 20, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200318192454/https://www.reddit.com/r/eupolitics/comments/66gnnb/macron_moves_in_the_%C3%A9lys%C3%A9e_palace_on_shoulders_of/; defendingthetruth.com, April 20, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418161140/https://defendingthetruth.com/threads/macron-moves-in-the-%C3%89lys%C3%A9e-palace-on-shoulders-of-migrants-and-jihadists.60472/; politicsforum.org, April 20, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418161145/http://www.politicsforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=168877&sid=d395f44fff9b397979b01a2ccab4e3f8;  homment.com, April 20, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418161147/https://homment.com/Macron-moves-in-the-Elysee-Palace-on-shoulders-of-migrants-and-jihadists.

[119] For example, persona “Дмитрий Разумов” (“Dmitriy Razumov”), “Макрон въедет в Елисейский дворец на плечах мигрантов и джихадистов” (“Macron will ride into the Elysee Palace on the backs of migrants and jihadists”), cont.ws, April 26, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418161320/https://cont.ws/@razumow/598048;  fishki.net, April 26, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418161228/https://fishki.net/anti/2276742-makron-vedet-v-elisejskij-dvorec-na-plechah-migrantov-i-dzhihadistov.html.

[120] Jean-Baptiste Jeangene Vilmer, “The ‘Macron Leaks’ Operation: A Post-Mortem,” Atlantic Council, June 2019, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/The_Macron_Leaks_Operation-A_Post-Mortem.pdf.

[121] Persona “Ritterc, “Macron Triumphant: Macro-lies of Micro-victory”, 6 May 2017, http://archive.is/mHxb6. We are grateful to Reddit for first exposing this post as being part of Secondary Infektion.

[122] See www.io-archive.org

[123] Persona “Josef Hashever,”, “Hilla the Hun in her chase for the Genesis Prize,” WordPress, November 26, 2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200424112628/https://joeshever.wordpress.com/2015/11/26/hilla-the-hun-in-her-chase-of-the-genesis-prize/. The same persona posted the same story on beforeitsnews.com on the same day: http://web.archive.org/web/20200418143028/https://beforeitsnews.com/u-s-politics/2015/11/hilla-the-hun-in-her-chase-of-the-genesis-prize-2491430.html.

[124] Persona “HJHJ,” “Sponsors of Islamists invest into Hillary,” Medium, May 6, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20200418151334/https://medium.com/@HJHJHJHJ/sponsors-of-islamists-invest-into-hillary-2cb40e2e1c90.

[125] Persona “climber,” “Electoral mockery in the United States: a view from within,” Medium, June 7, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20200418152645/https://medium.com/@climberud/electoral-mockery-in-the-united-states-a-view-from-within-6972fe326cd.  

[126] Persona “Douklan Oisi,” “China compensates Brexit by support of Clinton,” Quora, July 20, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418153427/https://www.quora.com/What-will-be-Hillary-Clintons-China-policy-if-she-becomes-the-president/answer/Douklan-Oisi.

[127] Unnamed author, “Hitting Trump and Sanders with an e-mail cluster all at the same time,” homment.com, July 27, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20200418153520/https://homment.com/Hitting-Trump-and-Sanders-with-an-e-mail-cluster-all-at-the-same-time. The article argued that “you really can’t take literally the theory about the Russian hackers,” in a rare direct reference to other Russian operations.

[128] Persona “George Umber,” “Clinton fits on the Roosevelt's wheelchair?” Medium, August 10, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20200418153554/https://medium.com/@GeorgeUmber/clinton-fits-on-the-roosevelts-wheelchair-36b40da7d16b.

[129] Unnamed author, “Hillary Clinton, a killer (proclaimed) above the law,” homment.com, October 31, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418154348/https://homment.com/Hillary-Clinton-a-killer-proclaimed-above-the-law.

[130] Persona “Петр Калюжный,” “Хиллари Клинтон – убийца, объявленная вне закона” (“Hillary Clinton, a killer proclaimed outside the law”), November 2, 2016, on korrespondent.net, https://blogs.korrespondent.net/blog/politics/3766265/ and dosug.md, https://dosug.md/ru/publication/14327/, among others.

[131] Persona “Farah Al-mazik,” “Stop HIllary Clinton’s Aggression,” thepetitionsite.com, October 27, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418203502/https://www.thepetitionsite.com/935/098/058/stop-hillary-clintons-aggression/.

[132] Persona “Josefever,” “Germany’s staying secretly supportive of the Turkish Kurds,” beforeitsnews.com, December 24, 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20200409120834/https://beforeitsnews.com/conspiracy-theories/2015/12/germanys-staying-secretly-supportive-of-the-turkish-kurds-2473062.html 

[133] Homment, "The effect of the referendum in Turkey: urged by Gülen followers, Germany to impose sanctions on Ankara", homment.com, May 11, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200404081117/https://homment.com/the-effect-of-the-referendum-in-turkey 

[134] Persona "alexdudek", "The UN Security Council Resolution: Germany will be obliged to pay Poland for occupation,” Homment.com, December 10, 2018http://web.archive.org/web/20200404102355/https://homment.com/jxfUAkYph61dHstauwGu 

[135] Persona “Politgraben”, "Der Islam gehört zu Deutschand nicht!" (“Islam doesn’t belong in Germany!”), politgraben.wordpress.com, April 28, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20200404100150/https://politgraben.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/der-islam-gehort-zu-deutschland-nicht/

[136] Persona “Politgraben”, "Wird Deutschland zum Hauptziel syrischer Flüchtlinge?" (“Will Germany become the main destination for Syrian refugees?”), politgraben.wordpress.com, September 3, 2015 https://politgraben.wordpress.com/2015/09/03/wird-deutschland-zum-hauptziel-syrischer-fluechtlinge/

[137]Persona “Politgraben”, "FLÜCHTLINGE BRINGEN NACH EUROPA TOD" (“REFUGEES BRING DEATH TO EUROPE!”), politgraben.wordpress.com, September 15, 2015  https://web.archive.org/web/20190205023851/https://politgraben.wordpress.com/2015/09/03/wird-deutschland-zum-hauptziel-syrischer-fluechtlinge/

[138] Persona “Politgraben”, "Drang nach Osten 2.0” (“The push to the East 2.0”), politgraben.wordpress.com", May 7, 2015 http://web.archive.org/web/20200404095246/https://politgraben.wordpress.com/2015/05/07/drang-nach-osten-2-0/ 

[139] Persona “Politgraben”, "NRW: KRIEGSWAFFEN-LAGER VON ISLAMISTEN AUSGEHOBEN" (“NRW: ISLAMIST WEAPONS CACHE DUG UP”), politgraben.wordpress.com, June 22, 2016.http://web.archive.org/web/20200404083639/https://politgraben.wordpress.com/2016/06/22/nrw-kriegswaffen-lager-von-islamisten-ausgehoben/ 

[140] Persona “Politgraben”, "AUF VERLANGEN VON NRW-INNENMINISTERIUM" (“AT THE REQUEST OF THE NRW INTERIOR MINISTRY”), politgraben.wordpress.com, February 12, 2016.https://politgraben.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/auf-verlangen-von-nrw-innenministerium/

[141] Persona “Dariusz Pawlak”, "Genocide strikes relations between Ukraine and Poland… again", medium.com, January 18, 2018http://web.archive.org/web/20200404111524/https://medium.com/@darpawlak/genocide-strikes-relations-between-ukraine-and-poland-again-1c1085fec1f9 

[142] Persona “Alexdudek”, "The UN Security Council Resolution: Germany will be obliged to pay Poland for occupation", homment.com, December 10, 2018http://web.archive.org/web/20200404102355/https://homment.com/jxfUAkYph61dHstauwGu 

[143] Unattributed article, "Is Poland to be punished for sabotage of the EU decisions on Ukraine?", homment.com, June 7, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20200410073011/https://homment.com/Is-Poland-to-be-punished-for-sabotage-of-the-EU-decisions-on-Ukraine 

[144] Persona “Altan Yavuz,” "Poland Will Support Turkey's Accession to the EU, medium.com, September 7, 2017 http://web.archive.org/web/20200404105206/https://medium.com/@AltanYavuz/poland-will-support-turkeys-accession-to-the-eu-83ab8ac17cf3 

[145] Persona “Carole Juanard,” "Poland Demands Reparations From the Former Soviet Republics For the Aggression Of the Red Army", medium.com, August 22, 2018 http://web.archive.org/web/20200404103152/https://medium.com/@juanard/poland-demands-reparations-from-the-former-soviet-republics-for-the-aggression-of-the-red-army-cab00f5ee858 

[146] "Lithuanian Horizons: with Dalya for without her", groundreport.com, 4 July, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20200404101009/https://www.groundreport.com/lithuanian-eu-horizons-dalya-without/

[147] Persona "Josef Hashever", "Lithuanian ‘Nuremberg’ reached a dead end", wordpress.com, 9 June 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20200404080002/https://joeshever.wordpress.com/2016/06/09/lithuanian-nuremberg-reached-a-dead-end/ 

[148] Persona "El Vilar", Latvia’s ruling party: unity of government, secret services and crime, medium.com, 4 October 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200404111836/https://medium.com/@elvilar/latvias-ruling-party-unity-of-government-secret-services-and-crime-fd0275abb6fa 

[149] Persona "saiso", “Latvia as the cyber bastion of NATO", homment.com, November, 20, 2019, https://web.archive.org/web/20200404073156/https://homment.com/awVtJJ8cbPXXjrcWEsoI 

[150] Persona "Stanislav Melanich", Много шпрот и мало водки. Прибалтийский вариант, livejournal.com, June 15, 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20200404020229/https://bloger-nasralny.livejournal.com/2015/06/15/ 

[151] Insikt Group, "Intent to Infekt: ‘Operation Pinball’ Tactics Reminiscent of ‘Operation Secondary Infektion,', recordedfuture.com, April 8, 2020,  https://www.recordedfuture.com/operation-pinball-tactics/ 

[152] Persona "mazumishasy", "Подарок для Польши: Украина собирается переориентировать Хмельницкую АЭС на экспорт" (“Gift for Poland: Ukraine plans to switch the Khmelnitsky NPP to export”), stena.ee, November 27, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200404003115/https://www.stena.ee/blog/podarok-dlya-polshi-ukraina-sobiraetsya-pereorientirovat-hmelnitskuyu-aes-na-eksport 

[153] Julian Borger, Patrick Wintour and Heather Stewart, “Western allies expel scores of Russian diplomats over Skripal attack,” The Guardian, March 27, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/26/four-eu-states-set-to-expel-russian-diplomats-over-skripal-attack.

[154] Persona “Matt Porter,” “Spain’s Intel: Remainers Plot to Assassinate Boris Johnson,” Medium, August 12, 2018, https://archive.is/2CgqR.

[155] Persona “Will Couch,” “Following Brexit is a new fight for United Ireland,” Medium, April 23, 2019, https://archive.is/iQ44c.

[156] Persona “Steven Laack,” “Being friendly the American way. The USA was spying on the British Royal Family,” blogspot.com, April 6, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200424111520/https://doubtingsteven.blogspot.com/2016/04/being-friendly-american-way-usa-was.html. Tweeted the same day at https://twitter.com/StevenLaack/status/717640052034023426.

[157] Persona “Chris Woods,” “UK’s GCHQ to support Democrats during the 2018 midterms,” scoop.it, August 3, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200424111322/https://www.scoop.it/u/chris-woods-4.  

[158] Unattributed article, “Mayday! Theresa May: a mortician or a savior?”, homment.com, July 28, 2016, https://homment.com/mfuanmen2t.

[160] Persona “Mitchell Harris,” USA and UK: policy of the biggest fraud,” Facebook, April 12, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200404073616/https://www.facebook.com/OccupyUnmasked/posts/1848654055165283.

[161] Persona “Matt Porter,” “Spain’s Intel: Remainers Plot to Assassinate Boris Johnson,” Medium, August 12, 2018, https://archive.is/2CgqR.

[162] Persona “Will Couch,” “Following Brexit is a new fight for United Ireland,” Medium, April 23, 2019, https://archive.is/iQ44c.

[163] Persona “Addie Ukip,” “The greatest fraud of the century: referendum in Great Britain,” Medium, May 25, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200424111350/https://medium.com/@AddieUkip/the-greatest-fraud-of-the-century-referendum-in-great-britain-44083d66bbee; persona “Steven Laack,” same headline, blogspot.com, May 27, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200424111345/https://doubtingsteven.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-greatest-fraud-of-century.html.

[164] Ben Nimmo, “UK Trade Leaks,” Graphika, December 2, 2019, https://graphika.com/TradeLeaks; Jack Stubbs, “Leak of papers before UK election raises 'specter of foreign influence': experts,” Reuters, December 2, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-election-foreign/leak-of-papers-before-uk-election-raises-specter-of-foreign-influence-experts-idUSKBN1Y620A.

[165] “U/worstnerd,” “Suspected Campaign from Russia on Reddit,” Reddit, December 6, 2019, https://www.reddit.com/r/redditsecurity/comments/e74nml/suspected_campaign_from_russia_on_reddit/.

[166] Persona "John Becker", "Georgia demonstrates lack of readiness for its membership in the EU and NATO", medium.com, October 10, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200315172105/https://medium.com/@beckerjo/georgia-demonstrates-lack-of-readiness-for-its-membership-in-the-eu-and-nato-30813385cc0a 

[167] Persona "Stanislav Melanich", "Реформа МВД с грузинским душком"(“Interior Ministry reform with a Georgian scent”), livejournal.com, December 17, 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20200410144016/https://bloger-nasralny.livejournal.com/47564.html

[168] Persona "Stanislav Melanich", "Революция в Армении – подготовка сдачи Нагорного Карабаха" (“Revolution in Armenia: preparations to surrender Nagorno-Karabakh”), cont.ws, April 30, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200411045816/https://cont.ws/@stasmelanich/931652 

[169] "Arménie: échec de la "color revolution", l'USAID insulte son laquais", wikistrike.com, September 3, 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20200411050113/http://www.wikistrike.com/2015/09/armenie-echec-de-la-color-revolution-l-usaid-insulte-son-laquais.html

[170] Persona "Semeon Tozz", "What's up in Armenia?", medium.com, May 12, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200411052351/https://medium.com/@semeontozz/whats-up-in-armenia-41231f195c15 

[171] Persona "Max Bromberg", "Schweden ist an Brüsseler Anschlagen schuld" (“Sweden to blame for Brussels attacks”), politgraben.wordpress.com, March 30, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200404102110/https://politgraben.wordpress.com/2016/03/30/schweden-ist-an-bruesseler-anschlaegen-schuld/ 

[172] Persona "Olle", "Fredsreglering genom skrapning av terrorceller.Islamiska staten väntar Sveriges hjälp" (“Making peace by creating terror cells. IS expects Sweden’s help”), svenskpress.se, March 23, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20170107203629/http://www.svenskpress.se/papers/pressbladet/articles/view/fredsreglering-genom-skapning-av-terrorceller-islamiska-staten-vantar

[173] Persona "andrewhobbs," "Another "Mueller Commission" Is Suggested To Be Created in Sweden", homment.com, November 14, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200404104202/https://homment.com/WD33RUuytNCkIWOZtfo3 

[175] Persona “George Kobzaru”, “Sverige kunde förebygga terrorattacker i Bryssel" (“Sweden could have prevented terrorist attacks in Brussels”), pressbladet.se, March 29, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200404084318/http://www.pressbladet.se/articles/view/sverige-kunde-forebygga-terrorattacker-i-bryssel 

[176] Arri Gibs, "Sweden could have prevented the terrorist attacks in Brussels!", youtube.com, March 28, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200404084240/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-2dMCIgXP4 

[177]  Persona "Josef Hashever", "Peace Settlement Through Creation of Terrorist Cells. ISIS Expects Aid From Sweden," indymedia.org.uk, March 24, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200404102028/https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2016/03/524628.html 

[178]  "Peace Settlement Through Creation of Terrorist Cells. ISIS Expects Aid From Sweden," newsparticipation.com, March 24, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20200410133233/https://newsparticipation.com/peace-settlement-through-creation-of-terrorist-cells-daesh-expects-aid-of-sweden/

[179] Secondary Infektion’s use of Twitter was a deviation from its normal behavior, in that it used the same accounts repeatedly between mid-2014 and mid-2016. These accounts shared a significant proportion of non-original content and reposted individual Secondary Infektion stories repeatedly, occasionally dozens of times per story. Representing the operation’s Twitter usage by individual tweets over-represents the volume of the operation’s Twitter activity compared with its activity on other platforms. For that reason, Twitter is not represented in the comparative graphs.

[180] “Anonymous,” “United States to nominate Ukrainian President Poroshenko for a Nobel Peace Prize,” cyberguerrilla.org, May 24, 2015, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20150530204435/https://www.cyberguerrilla.org/blog/united-states-to-nominate-ukrainian-president-poroshenko-for-a-nobel-peace-prize/.

[181] Persona “Kries Larsson,” “United States to nominate Ukrainian President Poroshenko for a Nobel  Peace Prize,” YouTube, May 25, 2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418140609/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2otXTrVJ0g.  

[182] Unnamed poster, “United States to nominate Ukrainian President Poroshenko for a Nobel Peace Prize,” homment.com, May 27,  2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418140715/https://homment.com/ukrainenobel.  

[183] Persona “Taurus5”, “Friedensnobelpreis 2015 geht an... Poroschenko?,” ask1.org, May 29, 2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418140917/https://www.ask1.org/threads/friedensnobelpreis-2015-%E2%80%93-bin-schockiert.17862/.

[184] Persona “Politgraben,” “Friedensnobelpreis 2015 geht an... Poroschenko?” (“Nobel Peace Prize goes to… Poroshenko?”), de.indymedia.org, May 28, 2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418140745/https://de.indymedia.org/node/4650.  

[185] Persona “Ino-news”, “США номинируют Порошенко на Нобелевскую премию мира” (“USA nominates Poroshenko for Nobel Peace Prize”), cont.ws, May 28, 2015,  http://web.archive.org/web/20200418140817/https://cont.ws/@ino-news/90420.

[186] Persona “Ino-news”, “США номинируют Порошенко на Нобелевскую премию мира” (“USA nominates Poroshenko for Nobel Peace Prize”), livejournal, May 28, 2015. The account has been purged, but the article is reproduced here: http://web.archive.org/web/20200418140831/https://x-true.info/19848-ssha-nominiruyut-poroshenko-na-nobelevskuyu-premiyu-mira.html.

[187] Persona “Peter Blom,” “Silence commanded. People in Sweden are incensed by London’s pressure on scientists,” Medium, June 4, 2018,  http://web.archive.org/web/20200418170727/https://medium.com/@peterblom_75128/silence-commanded-people-in-sweden-are-incensed-by-londons-pressure-on-scientists-1097d5b19314.

[188] Persona “Peterbloms,” “Silence commanded. People in Sweden are incensed by London’s pressure on scientists,” BuzzFeed forum, June 4, 2018, https://www.buzzfeed.com/peterbloms/silence-commanded-people-in-sweden-are-incensed-b-3hdos.

[189] Persona “Peterblom,” “Silence commanded. People in Sweden are incensed by London’s pressure on scientists,” thestudentroom.co.uk, June 4, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200422215308/https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5409006.  

[190] Persona “Peter Blom,” “Silence commanded. People in Sweden are incensed by London’s pressure on scientists,” scoop.it, June 4, 2018,    https://web.archive.org/web/20200422215529/https://www.scoop.it/topic/europe-by-peter-blom/p/4098264908/2018/06/04/silence-commanded-people-in-sweden-are-incensed-by-london-s-pressure-on-scientists.

[191] Persona “Peterblom,” “Silence commanded. People in Sweden are incensed by London’s pressure on scientists,” defendingthetruth.com, June 4, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200422215713/https://defendingthetruth.com/threads/silence-commanded-people-in-sweden-are-incensed-by-londons-pressure-on-scientists.66513/.

[192] Guest user, ““Silence commanded. People in Sweden are incensed by London’s pressure on scientists,” homment.com, June 4, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200422215833/https://homment.com/no8ixNupbU355pUakRag.

[193] Persona “Tiagorivas”, “La indignación en Suecia por la presión de Londres sobre los científicos” (“Indignation in Sweden over London’s pressure on scientists”), globedia.com, June 5, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200422220037/http://bo.globedia.com/indignacion-suecia-presion-londres-cientificos.

[194] Persona “Tiago Rivas,” ““La indignación en Suecia por la presión de Londres sobre los científicos,” burbuja.info, June 5, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200422220046/https://www.burbuja.info/inmobiliaria/threads/la-indignacion-en-suecia-por-la-presion-de-londres-sobre-los-cientificos.1040375/.

[195] Persona “ДРИЧАК МИХАЙЛО”, “Наказано мовчати: в Швеції обурені тиском Лондона на вчених” (“Ordered to be silent: Swedes angry with London’s pressure on scientists,”) korrespodent.net, June 21, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200422220430/https://blogs.korrespondent.net/blog/world/3982646/.  

[196] Persona “Михайло Дричак,” “Наказано мовчати: в Швеції обурені тиском Лондона на вчених,” pero.org.ua, June 21, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200422220421/https://pero.org.ua/polityka/nakazano-movchaty-v-shvetsiyi-obureni-tyskom-londona-na-vchenyh/.  

[197] Persona “drichakmikh,” “Наказано мовчати: в Швеції обурені тиском Лондона на вчених”, blog.i.ua, June 21, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20200422220416/http://blog.i.ua/user/10180331/.

[198] Persona “OliverrStonne,” “MI6 Operative On Anti-Trump Campaign,” Buzzfeed Community, January 20, 2017, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20191214150229/https://www.buzzfeed.com/oliverrstonne/mi6-operative-on-anti-trump-campaign-2sdhe.

[199] Persona “Pierre Buisson,” “Buzzfeed impute la paternité du faux rapport compromettant sur Trump au MI6” (“Buzzfeed attributes the birth of the fake compromising report on Trump to MI6”), actu-politique.info, January 26, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418155920/https://actu-politique.info/viewtopic.php?t=18786.  

[200] Persona “Peter Kaufman,” “Buzzfeed schreibt MI-6 die Autorschaft des fake kompromittierenden Materials über Trump zu” (“Buzzfeed attributes the authorship of the fake compromising material on Trump to MI6), meine-news.de, January 26, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418155941/https://www.meine-news.de/boellstein/c-politik/buzzfeed-schreibt-mi-6-die-autorschaft-des-fake-kompromittierenden-materials-ueber-trump-zu_a18716.

[201] This also echoes the trajectory of the Russian IRA. See Phil Howard, Bharath Ganesh, Dimitra Liotsiou, John Kelly, and Camille Francois, "The IRA, Social Media and Political Polarization in the United States, 2012-2018," Computational Propaganda Research Project, Oxford Internet Institute, December 2018 https://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/ira-political-polarization/

[203] Persona “Will Benton,” “The US is concerned about the influx of Chinese spies,” Medium, August 16, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418172544/https://medium.com/@willbenton_22335/the-us-is-concerned-about-the-influx-of-chinese-spies-ff32414b367d.

[204] Persona “jalindner,” “USA sind um den Zustrom von chinesischen Spionen besorgt” (“USA concerned by the influx of Chinese spies”), chinaseite.de, 28 June 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418174700/https://forum.chinaseite.de/viewtopic.php?t=33153.  

[206] Pesona “Will Benton”, “The US is concerned about the influx of Chinese spies,” Medium, August 16, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418172544/https://medium.com/@willbenton_22335/the-us-is-concerned-about-the-influx-of-chinese-spies-ff32414b367d.

[207] Persona “willbenton,” “The US is concerned about the influx of Chinese spies,” cssforum.com.pk, August 16, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418172548/http://www.cssforum.com.pk/css-compulsory-subjects/current-affairs/120861-us-concerned-about-influx-chinese-spies.html.

[208] As of April 21, 2020, the link was still visible at https://i.imgur.com/EZCtdo6.jpg; it is archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20200422221631/https://i.imgur.com/EZCtdo6.jpg.

[209] Persona “paulrossa,” “'Hard Brexit' to be rewarded by favourable trade deal and a new PM,” homment.com, 18 September 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418181505/https://homment.com/mFJwD0WX6VGMptz2xYGp. The screenshot is preserved at http://web.archive.org/web/20200418133728/https://i.imgur.com/pn5MVzz.jpg.

[210] Search term “Giuliani: Britain gets the,” Reddit. Search made on April 7, 2020. https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=Giuliani%3A%20Britain%20gets%20the.

[212] Persona “Norman Nash,” “OSCE ODIHR: 3.15 million Germany's new citizens ensured the CDU victory,” Urban75.net, October 3, 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20200521154328/https://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/osce-odihr-3-15-million-germanys-new-citizens-ensured-the-cdu-victory.354753/.

[213] His biography can be viewed at https://www.osce.org/node/330441.

[214] “Germany, Parliamentary Elections, 24 September 2017: Final Report,” OSCE ODIHR, November 27, 2017, https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/germany/358936.

[216] Persona “chavezserg,” “Servicios de inteligencia de España: se prepara el atentado contra Boris Johnson” (“Spanish intelligence services: Assassination attempt against Boris Johnson is being prepared”) globedia.com, August 8, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418182645/https://i.iheart.com/v3/re/assets.brands/5e5ea6a57a1102921ef48ac2?ops=resize(192,0).

[217] Persona “Peter Blom,” “ Silence commanded. People in Sweden are incensed by London’s pressure on scientists,”  Medium, June 4, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418170727/https://medium.com/@peterblom_75128/silence-commanded-people-in-sweden-are-incensed-by-londons-pressure-on-scientists-1097d5b19314.

[219] Persona “John Becker,” “Georgia demonstrates lack of readiness for its membership in the EU and NATO,” Medium, October 10, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418182740/https://medium.com/@beckerjo/georgia-demonstrates-lack-of-readiness-for-its-membership-in-the-eu-and-nato-30813385cc0a.

[220] Dominic Grieve, “It’s time for MPs to put country before party,” Prospect, August 19, 2018, https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/dominic-grieve-country-before-party.

[221] Persona “Josef Hashever,” “Genocide of ‘non-Ukrainians’ on approval of the EU,”  indymedia.org.uk, April 20, 2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418135637/https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2015/04/520191.html.

[222] Nuland has been a notable target of Russian information operations, most notoriously when unknown agents intercepted a phone call she made in 2014 in which she was less than complimentary about the European Union’s role in Ukraine. The recording was published by Russian officials. See Mark Hosenball, “Leaked call on Ukraine made on unencrypted cellphones -U.S. officials,” Reuters, February 7,  2014, https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine-phonecall-idUSL2N0LC1E120140207.

[223] Anonymous poster, “Ukraine is trying to frustrate referendum in the Netherlands,” first posted on cyberguerrilla.org, March 24, 2016, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20161118160559/https://www.cyberguerrilla.org/blog/ukraine-is-trying-to-frustrate-referendum-in-the-netherlands/. Operation Secondary Infektion regularly posted on cyberguerrilla.org and pretended to belong to the “Anonymous” hacker movement.

[225] Persona “Werner Holt,” “Belagerung von Deutschland: USA und Polen führen einen Informationskrieg” (“Siege of Germany: Poland and the USA are waging an information war”), meinbezirk.at, April 24, 2019, https://web.archive.org/web/20200409121649/https://www.meinbezirk.at/steinfeld/c-politik/belagerung-von-deutschland-usa-und-polen-fuehren-einen-informationskrieg_a3346260.

[226] Ben Nimmo, Eto Buziashvili and Michael Sheldon, “Russian Op. 6: EU Elections,” DFRLab, June 22, 2016, https://medium.com/dfrlab/russian-op-6-eu-elections-892c6b5fecb7.  

[228] Persona “Rachel Cross Voddo,” Reddit, January 23, 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20200404112138/https://www.reddit.com/user/RachelCrossVoddo/.

[229] Persona “OliverrStonne”, “MI6 Agent on anti-Trump campaign,” Buzzfeed Community, January 20, 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20170204041523/https://www.buzzfeed.com/oliverrstonne/mi6-operative-on-anti-trump-campaign-2sdhe.

[230] Persona “Friso Fischer,” Facebook, January 27, 2017, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100015062384380.

[231] Persona “Martin Karlsson,” Facebook, January 30, 2017, https://www.facebook.com/martin.karlsson.754365.

[232] The mein-suedhessen.de article has been removed, but copies remain elsewhere. See persona “Peter Kaufman,” “Buzzfeed schreibt MI-6 die Autorschaft des fake kompromittierenden Materials über Trump zu” (“Buzzfeed ascribes the authorship of the fake compromising material on Trump to Buzzfeed”), meine-news.de, January 26, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418155941/https://www.meine-news.de/boellstein/c-politik/buzzfeed-schreibt-mi-6-die-autorschaft-des-fake-kompromittierenden-materials-ueber-trump-zu_a18716.

[233] Persona “NigusEeis,” “Litbuanian ‘Nuremberg’ reached a dead end,” Reddit, June 8, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418152733/https://www.reddit.com/r/lithuania/comments/4n55d8/lithuanian_nuremberg_reached_a_dead_end/.

[234] Persona “Taurus5,” “Friedensnobelpreis 2015 – bin schockiert!!” (“Nobel Peace Prize 2015 - I’m shocked!!2), ask1.org, May 29, 2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418140917/https://www.ask1.org/threads/friedensnobelpreis-2015-%E2%80%93-bin-schockiert.17862/.  

[235] Persona “jaimeibanez,” “SNBO de Ucrania: EE.UU. prepara protestas masivas en Ucrania y Rusia” (“Ukraine’s SNBO: U.S. preparing massive protests in Ukraine and Russia”), Reddit, December 21, 2017, https://www.reddit.com/r/spain/comments/7l8314/snbo_de_ucrania_eeuu_prepara_protestas_masivas_en/.

[236] Persona “cabradolfo,” “Salieron a la luz los nombres de los ucranianos "no enjuiciables" de la lista de Yovanovitch” (“The names of ‘unprosecutable’ Ukrainains from the Yovanovitch list came out”), Reddit, March 28, 2019, https://www.reddit.com/r/vzla/comments/b6fxvc/salieron_a_la_luz_los_nombres_de_los_ucranianos/.

[237] User “David,” “United States to nominate Ukrainian President Poroshenko for a Nobel Peace Prize,” davidicke.com, May 28, 2015, https://www.davidicke.com/article/326777/united-states-to-nominate-ukrainian-president-poroshenko-for-a-nobel-peace-prize. The post was sourced to homment.com.

[238] As of April 9, 2020, the tweet was still live at https://twitter.com/davidicke/status/604007235606302720.

[239] Eric Zuesse, “U.S. Pressures Nobel Committee to Declare Ukraine’s President a Peace Prize Nominee, Leaked Letter,” globalresearch.ca, May 29, 2015, https://www.globalresearch.ca/u-s-pressures-nobel-committee-to-declare-ukraines-president-a-peace-prize-nominee-leaked-letter/5452448.

[240] Unattributed article, “Is Ukraine Pressuring US to Secure Nobel Peace Prize for Poroshenko?”, Sputnik, May 30, 2015, https://sputniknews.com/world/201505301022745342/.

[241] Unattributed article, “Ucraina ricatta USA per nomina Poroshenko al Nobel per la Pace” (“Ukraine blackmails USA to nominate Poroshenko for the Nobel Peace Prize”), Sputnik Italia, May 30, 2015, https://sputniknews.com/world/201505301022745342/.

[242] Unattributed article, “Poroşenko, Nobel Barış Ödülü'ne mi aday gösterilecek?” (“Will Poroshenko be nomiated for the Nobel Peace Prize?”), Sputnik Turkiye, June 1, 2015, https://tr.sputniknews.com/avrupa/201506011015760567/

[243] Unattributed article, “Нобель переворачивается в гробу: Порошенко номинируют на премию мира” (“Nobel turning in his grave: Poroshenko nominated for peace prize”), nahnews.org, May 29, 2015, https://nahnews.org/240784-nobel-perevorachivaetsya-v-grobu-poroshenko-nominirovali-na-premiyu-mira.

[244] Lawrence Alexander, “Open-Source Information Reveals Pro-Kremlin Web Campaign,” Global Voices, July 13, 2015, https://globalvoices.org/2015/07/13/open-source-information-reveals-pro-kremlin-web-campaign/.

[245] For example, persona “Jeannette Collette,” “Выборы Меркель — и пусть весь мир подождёт! AgoraVox, Франция” (“Merkel’s election, and the world can wait! - AgoraVox, France”), news-front.info, July 6, 2017, https://news-front.info/2017/07/06/vybory-merkel-i-pust-ves-mir-podozhdyot/.

[246] Patrick Beuth, Marc Brost, Peter Dausend, Steffen Dobbert und Götz Hamann, “War without blood,” Die Zeit, February 26, 2017, https://www.zeit.de/digital/internet/2017-02/bundestag-elections-fake-news-manipulation-russia-hacker-cyberwar.

[247] For an example of content sharing, see, “Из Украины начался массовый исход евреев” (“Mass exodus of Jews from Ukraine began”), politrussia.com, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418140412/https://politrussia.com/world/iskhod-evreev-iz-943/. The article was sourced to Secondary Infektion asset “Steven Laack.” The umbrella group is the “Patriot Media” group, created in October 2019 and online at https://mediapatriot.ru/ 

[248] Persona “Steven Laack,” “The USA used NGOs in former USSR republics to recruit Muslim students for ISIS,” blogspot, June 29, 2015, https://doubtingsteven.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-usa-used-ngos-in-former-ussr.html.

[249] See above, note 204.

[250] Unattributed article, “Американский блогер: США вербовали в ИГИЛ в России и на Украине” (“American blogger: USA advertised for ISIS in Russia and Ukraine”), riafan.ru, July 2, 2015, https://riafan.ru/329308-amerikanskiy-bloger-ssha-verbovali-v-igil-v-rossii-i-na-ukraine.

[251] Ben Nimmo, “UK Trade Leaks,” Graphika, December 2, 2019, https://graphika.com/reports/UK-trade-leaks/.

[252] Kylie Maclellan and Elizabeth Piper, “Labour's Corbyn accuses Conservatives of offering up UK health service in U.S. talks,” Reuters, November 27, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-election-labour-health/labours-corbyn-accuses-johnson-of-offering-up-uk-health-service-in-us-talks-idUSKBN1Y112P.

[253] Ben Nimmo, “UK Trade Leaks,” Graphika, December 2, 2019, https://graphika.com/reports/UK-trade-leaks/.

[254] User “u/worstnerd,” “Suspected campaign from Russia on Reddit,” Reddit, December 6, 2019, https://www.reddit.com/r/redditsecurity/comments/e74nml/suspected_campaign_from_russia_on_reddit/.

[255] Natasha Lomas, “Reddit links UK-US trade talk leak to Russian influence campaign,” Techcrunch, December 7, 2019, https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/07/reddit-links-uk-us-trade-talk-leak-to-russian-influence-campaign/.

[256] For an initial analysis of the account from June 2019, see Ben Nimmo and Michael Sheldon, “Russian Op 3: The Blue Man and the Mole,” DFRLab, June 22, 2019, https://medium.com/dfrlab/russian-op-3-the-blue-man-and-the-mole-3ba77b9eb955.

[257] For an overview of recent information operations, including both foreign and domestic efforts, see the Facebook and Twitter archives of takedowns at https://about.fb.com/news/tag/coordinated-inauthentic-behavior/ and https://about.twitter.com/en_us/advocacy/elections-integrity.html#data.

[258] Ben Nimmo, “The Russians who exposed Russia’s trolls,” DFRLab, March 8, 2018, https://medium.com/dfrlab/the-russians-who-exposed-russias-trolls-72db132e3cd1.

[259] Persona “bloger_nasralny,” ““Харьков, вставай!” (“Kharkov, Arise!”), LiveJournal, February 26, 2014, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418134044/https://bloger-nasralny.livejournal.com/2014/02/26/.

[260] Persona “Bloger_Nasralny”, “Перемога энергетическая” (“Energy Victory”), LiveJournal, December 27, 2014, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418134914/https://bloger-nasralny.livejournal.com/17269.html.

[261] Persona “Bloger_Nasralny,” “Peremogi добрались до Порошенка)” (“Peremogi reached Poroshenko)”), LiveJournal, February 6, 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20180213162059/http://peremogi.livejournal.com/26353579.html.

[262] Persona “Bloger_Nasralny”, “Российская гражданская журналистика глазами интернет-пользователей” (“Russian citizen journalism in the eyes of internet users”), aftershock, July 8, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418170853/https://aftershock.news/?q=node%2F653000.

[263] Persona “Bloger_Nasralny,” “Украина сегодня – это Россия 90-х” (“Ukraine today is Russia in the 90s”), politikus.ru, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418152544/https://politikus.ru/articles/politics/77399-ukraina-segodnya-eto-rossiya-90-h.html.

[264] Persona “Bloger_Nasralny,” Aftershock.news, created circa January 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20200421171718/https://aftershock.news/?q=user/16791.

[265] Persona “Bloger_Nasralny,” “Эбола в Украине” (“Ebola in Ukraine”), LiveJournal, October 23, 2014, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418134357/https://bloger-nasralny.livejournal.com/2014/10/23/.

[267] Persona “Bloger_Nasralny,” “Це зрада! или национальная песня: «а тому ли я дала?»” (“"This is treachery! Or the national hymn: "but did I put out to that?"), LiveJournal, December 3, 2014, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418134602/https://bloger-nasralny.livejournal.com/2014/12/03/.

[269] Persona “Anonymous Europe,” “Message to the citizens of European countries,” YouTube, December 1, 2014, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418134525/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRiii1_PvA0.

[270] Persona “Ulrich Hartmann,” “Eine gruselige Zeit kommt” (“A grim time is coming”), BlogSpot, December 3, 2014, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418134545/https://ulrich-hartmann.blogspot.com/2014/12/eine-gruselige-zeit-kommt.html.

[271] The Twitter account only posted six times, and is archived at https://archive.vn/wip/M8NKQ. The web domain expired in February 2016; it had been registered to Gandi SAS, a French provider.

[274] Persona “Josefever,” Before It’s News, https://beforeitsnews.com/v3/contributor/stories/?uid=421606.

[275] Persona “Josef Hashever,” “Lunatic Joe’s Blog,” WordPress, https://web.archive.org/web/20200421233129/https://joeshever.wordpress.com/. The same persona was on Twitter as LunaticJoeH: https://web.archive.org/web/20200404100741/https://twitter.com/lunaticjoeh.

[276] Persona “Dusty L.A.”, “Turkey was about to open second front vs. Armenia”, Medium, April 6, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418154202/https://medium.com/@DustyLA/butkevi%C4%8Diuss-european-commissary-vs-grybauskaite-s-presidency-a5fb9e227e8d.

[277]  Persona “Dusty L.A.”, “Turkey was about to open second front vs. Armenia”, indymedia.org.uk, April 6, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418145646/https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2016/04/524715.html.

[278]  Anonymous post, “Turkey was about to open second front vs. Armenia”, homment.com,, April 6, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418145704/https://homment.com/dCUHKFspYF.

[280] Persona “Josef Hashever,” “Turkey was about to open second front vs. Armenia,” beforeitsnews.com, April 8, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418145758/https://beforeitsnews.com/war-and-conflict/2016/04/turkey-planned-to-open-second-front-in-nagorno-karabakh-2460965.html. The same persona posted the story on Facebook three days later: https://www.facebook.com/NewWorldOrderThe/posts/1576472702663296.

[281] Persona “Politgraben,” “BERG-KARABACH: PLAN DER TÜRKEI GESCHEITERT” (“Nagorno-Karabakh: Turkey’s plan failed”), wordpress.com, April 8, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418145740/https://politgraben.wordpress.com/2016/04/08/berg-karabach-plan-der-tuerkei-gescheitert/.  

[282] Persona “Ino-News,” “Курдский источник: Турция готовила для Армении второй фронт” (“Kurdish source: Turkey was preparing a second front for Armenia”), infonews.info, April 8, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20200315182628/https://inonews.info/2016/04/08/kurdskij-istochnik-turtsiya-gotovila-dlya-armenii-vtoroj-front/.

[283] Persona “Steven Laack,” “Turkey was about to open second front vs. Armenia,” scoop.it, April 11, 2016, https://www.scoop.it/topic/the-world-war-iii-just-signs-or-final-diagnosis/p/4062423407/2016/04/11/turkey-was-about-to-open-second-front-vs-armenia.

[284] Persona “Cyber_Legion,” “#European Integration without the #EU. Nordic dream of Swedish nationalists,” Twitter, October 20, 2015, https://twitter.com/Cyber_Legion/status/656414091221823488.

[285] Persona “Josef Hashever,” “European Integration without the EU. Nordic dream of Swedish nationalists,” wordpress.com, October 22, 2015, https://joeshever.wordpress.com/2015/10/22/european-integration-without-the-eu-nordic-dream-of-swedish-nationalists/; beforeitsnews.com, October 22, 2015, https://beforeitsnews.com/eu/2015/10/european-integration-without-the-eu-nordic-dream-of-swedish-nationalists-2592024.html.

[286] Anonymous, “European Integration without the EU. Nordic dream of Swedish nationalists,” indymedia.org.uk, October 23, 2015, https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2015/10/522787.html.

[287] Persona “Ino-News,”Евроинтеграция вне ЕС. Северная мечта шведских националистов” (“Euro-integration outside the EU: The Northern dream of Swedish nationalists”), aftershock.news, October 26, 2015 https://aftershock.news/?q=node/344284.

[289] Persona “Piter Preston,” “Police lawlessness. Violence against African Americans,” YouTube, April 3, 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20200419214940/https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T-dwnx1G9Vc; embedded in Black Defense Foundation, April 6, 2015,

[291] Unattributed author, “Bob Goodlatte: Pacifying Blacks,” Black Defense Foundation, March 3, 2015, https://blackdefence.wixsite.com/blackdefense/single-post/2015/03/03/Bob-Goodlatte-Pacifying-Blacks.

[292] Persona “Josef Hashever,” “Just like this opinion and want to share it,” posted to Facebook page “Beyond Awake,” June 30, 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20200419220037/https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1464549067188994&set=o.362881567123288&type=3.

[293] Unattributed author, “Barack Obama - ‘White Raven’ or ‘Lame Duck’?”, Black Defense Foundation, February 3, 2015, https://blackdefence.wixsite.com/blackdefense/single-post/2015/02/02/Barack-Obama-%E2%80%93-White-Raven-or-Lame-Duck.

[294] Persona “Ulrich Hartmann,” “Barack Obama - weißer Rabe oder lahme Ente?” (“Barack Obama - White Raven or Lame Duck?”), blogspot.com, February 9, 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20200419221359/https://ulrich-hartmann.blogspot.com/2015/02/barack-obama-weier-rabe-oder-lahme-ente.html.

[295] Persona “Steven Laack,” “35% of seats for Afro-Americans in proposed ‘public Missouri Police Oversight Co,” indymedia.co.uk, March 20, 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20200419223755/https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2015/03/519864.html.

[296] Persona “Ino-News,” “Афро-американцы хотят получить полный контроль над полицией США” (“Afro-Americans want to get full control over U.S. police”), aftershock.news, March 28, 2015,  https://web.archive.org/web/20200419223509/https://aftershock.news/?q=node/298024&full.

[297] Persona “Steven Laack,” “Lawlessness, hatred and violence. But is it the way to go, Merica?,” blogspot.com, May 5, 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20200419225402/https://doubtingsteven.blogspot.com/2015/05/lawlessness-hatred-and-violence-but-is.html.

[299] Particular thanks are due to Reddit for publishing its findings of Secondary Infektion assets in December 2019. See u/worstnerd, “Suspected campaign from Russia on Reddit,” Reddit, December 6, 2019, https://www.reddit.com/r/redditsecurity/comments/e74nml/suspected_campaign_from_russia_on_reddit/.

[300] Persona “RuffMoulton”, “The USA will reinforce security of diplomatic mission in South Korea with special forces”, 13 November 2017, 13 November 2017, http://archive.is/JYKlV

[301] MilitaryObserver, “Flowers for Kim Jong-un or Operation White Chrysanthemum”, 10 November 2017 http://archive.is/sGemr

[302] Persona “Realist233”, Comment on “Flowers for Kim Jong-un or Operation White Chrysanthemum”, 15 November 2017, http://archive.is/nPsSg#selection-467.0-467.178 

[303] Persona “MaxKasyan”, "Зимові Олімпійські ігри 2018 у Південній Кореї і їх безпека" (2018 South Korean Winter Olympics and their Security)” 29 November 2017, http://archive.is/NnGZg#selection-403.0-403.59

[304] Persona “КАСIАН МАКСИМ”, "Зимові Олімпійські ігри 2018 у Південній Кореї і їх безпека" (2018 South Korean Winter Olympics and their Security)” 29 November 2017, http://archive.is/9S2mx#selection-1155.0-1155.59 

[305] Unattributed article, “The PyeongChang 2018 and its security,” homment.com, November 14, 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20200422014028/https://homment.com/the-PyeongChang-2018-and-its-security.

[306] Homment, “Olympische Winterspiele als Deckmantel für den Angriff auf Nordkorea” (“The Winter Olympics as cover for the attack on North Korea”), 21 December 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20200410163530/https://homment.com/Olympische-Winterspiele-als-Deckmantel-fuer-den-Angriff-auf-Nordkorea 

[307] Persona “Philhoch”, “German sports officials are concerned for the safety of German athletes at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games”, December 22, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20200410164423/https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5108016

[308] Persona “Blancoaless”, “Los funcionarios deportivos de Alemania preocupados por seguridad de atletas en los JJ.OO. de PyeongChang”, December 24, 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20200325180141/https://www.reddit.com/r/es/comments/7m0937/los_funcionarios_deportivos_de_alemania/

[309] Persona “Levchenko Oleg”, "XXIII Зимові Олімпійські ігри: В очікуванні трагедії" (“The 23rd Winter Olympics: In Anticipation of a Tragedy”) 26 December 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20200325182333/https://www.obozrevatel.com/ukr/my/politics/xxiii-zimovi-olimpijski-igri-v-ochikuvanni-tragedii.htm

[310] Homment, “Sports fans petitioned the IOC to cancel Winter Olympics”, 29 December 2017, http://archive.is/Gwu2V#selection-871.0-871.56

[311] Persona “Almanzamary”, “La petición de los aficionados al deporte pide al COI que cancele los JJ.OO. de Invierno-2018” 9 January 2018, http://archive.is/Uowl0#selection-359.0-359.93 

[312] Persona “Проц Василий”, “Любителі спорту через петицію закликали МОК скасувати Зимову Олімпіаду“, 1 January 2018 http://archive.is/iWJbR#selection-33.0-50.0

[314] Persona “Василь Плисюк” (“Vasil Plisyuk”), “"Російські хакери": кремлівська зброя гібридної війни проти демократії” (“Russian hackers: the Kremlin’s weapons of hybrid war against  democracy”), politiko.ua, August 8, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418163549/https://politiko.ua/blogpost146273; livejournal.com, August 8, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418163453/https://ua-1.livejournal.com/566725.html.

[315] For transparency, one of the authors of this paper has been friends with one of the people whose name was one the forged letter for some 20 years.

[317] Persona “Максим Крафт” (“Maksim Kraft”), “Марін Ле Пен і російські хакери роблять рейтинг "Шведським демократам"” (“Marine Le Pen and Russian hackers improve the Sweden Democrats’ rating”), politiko.ua, August 23, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418173947/http://press.politiko.ua/blogpost151124; livejournal.com, August 23, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418173740/https://ua-politics.livejournal.com/1307003.html.

[318] Persona “Nadine Kinstry,” “Ukraine ‘drowns’ the Sweden Democrats”, Medium, August 30, 2019, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418174645/https://medium.com/@kinstry/ukraine-drowns-the-sweden-democrats-910417925d5d.

[319] Persona “Gustavo Salcedo Meija,” “Ucrania ‘ahoga’ a Demócratas de Suecia” (“Ukrinae ‘drowns’ the Sweden Democrats”), globedia.com, September 1, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418175119/http://globedia.com/ucrania-ahoga-democratas-suecia.

[320] Persona “Laurent Lavial,” “L’Ukraine donne la jambette aux Democrates de Suede” (“Ukraine kicks the Sweden Democrats”), developpez.net, September 3, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418175300/https://www.developpez.net/forums/d1889769/club-professionnels-informatique/actualites/politique/l-ukraine-donne-jambette-aux-democrates-suede/.

[321] “Background to “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections”: The Analytic Process and Cyber Incident Attribution,” Office of the Director of National Intelligence, January 6, 2017, https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf.

[322] Persona “OliverrStonne,” “MI6 operative on anti-Trump campaign,” BuzzFeed Community, January 20, 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20191214150229/https://www.buzzfeed.com/oliverrstonne/mi6-operative-on-anti-trump-campaign-2sdhe.

[323] Persona “Pierre Buisson,” “Buzzfeed impute la paternité du faux rapport compromettant sur Trump au MI6” (“BuzzFeed attributes the birth of the fake compromising report on Trump to MI6”), actu-politique.info, January 26, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418155920/https://actu-politique.info/viewtopic.php?t=18786.

[324] Persona “Peter Kaufman,” “Buzzfeed schreibt MI-6 die Autorschaft des fake kompromittierenden Materials über Trump zu” (“BuzzFeed attributes the authorship of the fake compromising material on Trump to MI6), meine-news.de, January 26, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418155941/https://www.meine-news.de/boellstein/c-politik/buzzfeed-schreibt-mi-6-die-autorschaft-des-fake-kompromittierenden-materials-ueber-trump-zu_a18716.

[325] Persona “Martin Karlsson,” “Brittiska Mi-6 spion avslöjar hemligheter om anti-trump-kampanj” (“British MI-6 spy reveals secrets of anti-Trump campaign”), text accompanying German version of the article, Facebook, January 30, 2017, https://www.facebook.com/Starkfuerdeutschland/posts/115338628980910.

[326] Persona “Kyle Warren,” “Trump-May meeting: Downing Street's desperate attempt to save face,” Quora, February 2, 2017, https://www.quora.com/Does-May-understand-that-she-is-creating-a-big-mess-for-the-UK;

[327] For example, persona “Thomas Cooke,” “Evolution of relations between Donald Trump and Her Majesty’s secret service,” Medium, March 22, 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20191210223517/https://medium.com/@ThomasCookee/evolution-of-relations-between-donald-trump-and-her-majestys-secret-service-a20586e80153

[328] Persona “Klaus Hoffman,” “Die Evolution der Beziehungen zwischen Donald Trump und den Geheimdiensten Ihrer Majestät” (“The evolution of relations between Donald Trump and Her Majesty’s secret service,” kraichgau.news, March 24, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418160928/https://kraichgau.news/region/c-politik-wirtschaft/die-evolution-der-beziehungen-zwischen-donald-trump-und-den-geheimdiensten-ihrer-majestaet_a8053.

[329] Persona “Mats Petersson,” “Evolution av relationerna mellan Donald Trump och säkerhetstjänsten av Hennes Majestät,” pressbladet.se, March 30, 2017,     http://web.archive.org/web/20200418161027/http://www.pressbladet.se/articles/view/evolution-av-relationerna-mellan-donald-trump-och-sakerhetstjansten-a.

[330] Persona “ИЩЕНКО АЛЕКСЕЙ,” “Эволюция отношений Дональда Трампа и спецслужб Её Величества,” korrespondent.net, March 27, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418160947/https://blogs.korrespondent.net/blog/politics/3832189/.

[331] Donald J. Trump, “Working on major Trade Deal with the United Kingdom. Could be very big & exciting. JOBS! The E.U. is very protectionist with the U.S. STOP,” Twitter, July 25, 2017, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/889821674987761664.

[332] Persona “JDallas,” “Trump pardons London for collecting damaging information on him?” defendingthetruth.com, July 31, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418163431/https://defendingthetruth.com/threads/trump-pardons-london-for-collecting-damaging-information-on-him.61856/.

[333] Persona “ГОРИЧНЫЙ ИГОРЬ” (Gorychniy Igor”), “Производственная травма кремлевского Лжедмитрия” (“Kremlin False Dmitriy’s Work Injury”), korrespondent.net, August 30, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418174843/https://blogs.korrespondent.net/blog/politics/4005789/.

[334] Persona “IgoGorr,” “Производственная травма кремлевского Лжедмитрия” (“Kremlin False Dmitriy’s Work Injury”), blog.i.ua, August 30, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418175014/http://blog.i.ua/user/10398775/2241375/.  

[336] Persona “Taciano Aguilera,” “Accidente laboral del "falso" primer ministro de Rusia” (“The ‘false’ prime minister of Russia’s work accident”), globedia.com, September 1, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418175316/http://ec.globedia.com/accidente-laboral-falso-ministro-rusia; burbuja.info, September 1, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418175210/https://www.burbuja.info/inmobiliaria/threads/accidente-laboral-del-falso-primer-ministro-de-rusia.1073516/; foroexplayate.com, September 1, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418175241/http://www.foroexplayate.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=41916.

[337] Persona “Петро Рябко” (“Petro Ryabko”),  “Майбутнє України” (“The Future of Ukraine”), YouTube, September 3, 2018,  http://web.archive.org/web/20200418175334/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywwI9zgMrpU.

[338] For example persona “Григорий Шляпин” (“Grigorii Shlyapin”), “На Украине началась кампания по избранию Медведева президентом России” (“Campaign to elect Medvedev president of Russia began in Ukraine”), cont.ws, September 4, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418175505/https://cont.ws/@Grishal/1053673.

[339] Persona “Websam”, “The Guardian 'deprived' Medvedev of funds for the 2024 presidential campaign,” politicaldiscussion.net, September 11, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418180046/https://politicaldiscussion.net/threads/the-guardian-deprived-medvedev-of-funds-for-the-2024-presidential-campaign.388/.

[340] Persona “Floramatista,” “The Guardian ‘ha privado’ a Medvedev de fondos para la campaña presidencial de 2024” (“the Guardian ‘deprived’ Medvedev of funds for the 2024 presidential campaign”), Reddit, September 12, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418180237/https://www.reddit.com/r/redditores/comments/9f5uy1/the_guardian_ha_privado_a_medvedev_de_fondos_para/.  

[341]   Persona “Pat Schumann,” “  The Guardian: Dmitri Medwedew hat kein Geld für den Wahlkampf 2024” (“The Guardian: Dmitri Medvedev has no money for the 2024 election”), ask1.org, September 12, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418180202/https://www.ask1.org/threads/the-guardian-dmitri-medwedew-hat-kein-geld-f%C3%BCr-den-wahlkampf-2024.18076/.

[342] Persona “Mikhail Ivashov,” “The Guardian ‘лишил’ Медведева средств на предвыборную кампанию 2024 года” (“The Guardian ‘deprived’ Medvedev of funds for the 2024 election campaign”), pandoraopen.ru, September 13, 2018, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418180535/https://x-true.info/73922-the-guardian-lishil-medvedeva-sredstv-na-predvybornuju-kampaniju-2024-goda.html.

[345] Persona “Dolan Moss,” “NATO: Biological terrorism traditions from Vietnam to Ukraine,” articlesreader.com, September 27, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20161229212109/http://www.articlesreader.com/nato-biological-terrorism-traditions-from-vietnam-to-ukraine/.

[346] Persona “Bloger_Nasralny,” “НАТО: традиции биотерроризма от Вьетнама до Украины,” aftershock.news, September 28, 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418154102/https://aftershock.news/?q=node%2F439886&full=.

[347] Persona “Abkusainov,” “Казахстану грозит эпидемия” (“Epidemic threatens Kazakhstan”), yvision.kz, May 24, 2019, https://web.archive.org/web/20200420132634/https://yvision.kz/post/833065.

[349] Adam Rawnsley, “Russian Trolls Hype Coronavirus and Giuliani Conspiracies,” The Daily Beast, April 9, 2020, https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-trolls-hype-coronavirus-and-giuliani-conspiracies.

[350] Persona “boltandy”, “В Алматы признались в работе над коронавирусом до эпидемии” (“Almaty admitted to working on coronavirus before the epidemic”), mynizhyn.com, February 22, 2020, https://web.archive.org/web/20200420162112/http://www.mynizhyn.com/blogs/boltandy_495.html .

[351] Embedded in article by persona “Steven Laack,” “Mayday! Theresa May: a mortician or a savior?”, newsparticipation.com, August 2, 2016, https://newsparticipation.com/mayday-theresa-may-a-mortician-or-a-savior/.

[353] Persona “mokley,” “American secret services: “Pravy sector” is training IG fighters,” indymedia.co.uk, October 21, 2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418142825/https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/world/2015/10/522777.html.

[354] Persona “Emil Joranssen,” “Karl Bildt: mellan fängelse och ukrainas statsministerpost.” (“Karl Bildt: Between prison and the Ukrainian premiership,” pressbladet.se, March 11, 2016, http://www.pressbladet.se/articles/view/karl-bildt-mellan-fangelse-och-ukrainas-statsministerpost1.

[355] For example, persona “Josef Hashever,” “Carl Bildt: hovering between prison and the Ukrainian Premiership,” blogspot, 13 March 2016, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418143949/http://doubtingsteven.blogspot.com/2016/03/carl-bildt-hovering-between-prison-and.html.

[356] Persona “Gerard,” “Garder le visage de l’Europe,” politicien.fr, March 14, 2017, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418160750/http://gerard.politicien.fr/2017/03/14/garder-le-visage-de-leurope/. The headline appears to be an attempt at a literal translation of the English “Saving Europe’s face.”

[357] Site search for “Hugo Brandy” on April 10, 2020, https://www.iss.europa.eu/search-view?search_text=Hugo%20Brandy.

[358] Persona “Johan,” “Flight SK1755: vem behöver en falsk sensation” (“Flight SK1755: who needs a fake sensation”), nyhetsverket.se, February 11, 2015, https://web.archive.org/web/20160407165422/http://www.nyhetsverket.se/nyhet/25851/Flight-SK1755-vem-beh%C3%B6ver-en-falsk-sensation; the equivalent English post was attributed to persona “Steven Laack,” “Flight SK1755: Who needs false sensation?”, blogspot.com, February 13, 2015, http://web.archive.org/web/20200418135054/https://doubtingsteven.blogspot.com/2015/02/flight-sk-1755-who-needs-false-sensation.html.

[359] RIA Novosti, “Жив ли "Живой журнал": кого и зачем читать” (“Is LiveJournal still alive? Who to read and why”), March 23, 2020,  https://ria.ru/20200323/1568892366.html

[360] Rusprofile, “Кривич Артем Геннадьевич” (“Krivich, Artyom Gennadyevich”), rusprofile.ru, https://www.rusprofile.ru/person/krivich-ag-470322686728

[361] Kont, “Конт объединяет талантливых авторов и интересных аналитиков со всего мира” (“Kont brings together talented authors and interesting analysts from around the world”), cont.ws, https://cont.ws/about

[362] Russky Expert, “Континенталист” (“Kontinentalist”), ruxpert.ru, January 20, 2020, https://ruxpert.ru/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82 

[363] Brand Analytics, “Топ-платформ и Топ-100 виральных русскоязычных медиаресурсов, МАЙ 2019 года” (“Top platform and top 100 viral Russian-language media resources, May 2019”), br-analytics.ru, June 6, 2019, https://br-analytics.ru/blog/top-100-maj-2019

[364] Чекко (“Chekko”), ООО "МАКС-ПАРК" (“MAXPARK PRIVATE LIMITED COMPANY”), checko.ru, https://checko.ru/company/maks-park-1145009002038

[365] Maxpark, “О сервисе” (“About the service”), maxpark.com, https://maxpark.com/main/about

[366] Russian Expert, “Aftershock”, ruxpert.ru, March 10, 2020,  https://ruxpert.ru/Aftershock

[367] Brand Analytics, “Топ-платформ и Топ-100 виральных русскоязычных медиаресурсов, МАЙ 2019 года” (“Top platform and top 100 viral Russian-language media resources, May 2019”), br-analytics.ru, June 6, 2019, https://br-analytics.ru/blog/top-100-maj-2019

[368] INFOX.ru, “C-Мedia купил Newsland.ru” (“C-Media buys Newsland.ru”), infox.ru, January 14, 2010, https://www.infox.ru/news/120/37918-c-media-kupil-newslandru

[369] Ru.Wikipedia, “Newsland”, ru.wikipedia.org, March 4, 2020, https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsland

[370] Politikus, “О сайте” (“About the site”), politikus.ru, https://politikus.ru/about.html

[371] Buzina, “О писателе” (“About the author”), buzina.org, https://buzina.org/about-avtor.html 

[372] Fishki, “О проекте” (“About the project”), fishki.net, https://fishki.net/about

[373] Razumei, “О ПРОЕКТЕ” (“About the project), https://www.razumei.ru/pr/

[374] Openrussia, “openrussia.org — от открытой информации к открытой стране.” https://openrussia.org/about/ 

[375] Meduza, Коллекционеры дорогих картинок Кто делает «Фишки.net», Pikabu и «Я плакалъ»: исследование «Медузы», 13 April 2019, https://meduza.io/feature/2016/04/13/kollektsionery-dorogih-kartinok

[376] Infopolk, “Частые Вопросы” (Frequently Asked Questions), http://infopolk.ru/%d1%87%d0%b0%d1%81%d1%82%d1%8b%d0%b5%d0%b2%d0%be%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%be%d1%81%d1%8b/