Russia Working To Shake Confidence In Democracy: US Intelligence Report
Russia is focused on carrying out operations to undermine public trust in elections around the world, according to a US intelligence report released on Friday.
“This is a global phenomenon,” noted the assessment, which was sent in a cable to the embassies of about 100 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.
The report accused Moscow of using its spy network, state-run media and social media in order to “degrade public confidence in election integrity.”
Undermining Public Trust In At Least 11 Elections
“Our information indicates that senior Russian government officials, including in the Kremlin, see value in this type of influence operation and perceive it to be effective.”
The US intelligence report has arrived against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow over Russia’s brutal “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine.
Between 2020 and 2022, Moscow engaged in a “concerted effort” to undermine public trust in at least 11 elections across 9 democracies, including the US, the report noted.
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Undermining Public Trust In 2020 US Presidential Election
“For Russia, the benefits of these operations are twofold: to sow instability … and to portray democratic elections as dysfunctional and the resulting governments as illegitimate.”
In the report, the US reiterated that Russian actors tried to undermine public confidence in the 2020 presidential election that Joe Biden won against former leader Donald Trump.
Without naming the targeted countries, the report said Washington had shared with them intelligence about the Russian operations. There was no immediate reaction from Moscow.
Falling For The Tactics Of Vladimir Putin
Just a few days after Hungary’s Viktor Orbán shook hands with Putin in Beijing, Czech President Petr Pavel warned European leaders against falling for the tactics of the Russian president.
Orbán and Putin’s meeting this week before an international forum on one of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s signature policies, the Belt and Road Initiative, left officials in the West seething.
In a written statement to The Guardian, Pavel said Putin is only holding these meetings to break the unity of European countries.
