Analysis of Russia's Three-Year Information Operations and the Impact of the Ukraine War

Key Chapter Title List

1. Background
2. Information Manipulation Campaign Targeting France
3. Information Manipulation Campaign Targeting Europe
4. Information Manipulation Campaign Targeting Ukraine and Occupied Territories
5. Information Manipulation Campaign Targeting the African Continent
6. RRN: A Persistent but Limited-Effect Information Manipulation Campaign
7. Matryoshka: An Information Manipulation Campaign Targeting Media and Fact-Checking Organizations
8. Voice of Europe and Euromore: Media Created to Evade European Sanctions
9. Stop Erdogan and Fake Anti-Ukraine Protests
10. Portal Kombat: An Information Manipulation Campaign Initially Targeting Ukraine, Later Expanded to Europe
11. Mriya: Media Associated with Ukrainian Separatist Political Parties
12. Project Lakhta and the Propaganda Campaign Involving Sending African Citizens to the Ukrainian Frontlines

Document Introduction

This report is a comprehensive analytical document released by the French Vigilance and Protection Service against Foreign Digital Interference (VIGINUM) in February 2025. It aims to systematically review and assess the large-scale information operations launched by Russia's information influence ecosystem since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The core of the report lies in analyzing how Russia, through a series of information manipulation campaigns, conducts coordinated propaganda and interference activities globally, particularly in France, Europe, Ukraine, and Africa, designed to rationalize its aggression, weaken international support, and undermine internal solidarity within target countries.

The report first defines the background and scope of the study. Since the invasion began, Russia's information operations have been positioned as a continuation of its information confrontation strategy dating back to the early 21st century, with the core objective of framing its "special military operation" as a defensive action against what it portrays as Ukrainian aggression supported by the collective West. The European Union's sanctions against Russian transnational media outlets RT and Sputnik in March 2022 prompted a partial shift of Russia's information ecosystem underground and gave rise to new information manipulation campaigns. In accordance with its legal mandate, VIGINUM initiated research into digital foreign interference related to the Russo-Ukrainian War and characterized the activities of multiple Russian information manipulation campaigns as digital foreign interference.

The main body of the report categorizes and elaborates on the primary information manipulation campaigns and their operational patterns based on geographical regions and target audiences. Regarding France, the report focuses on analyzing two campaigns: RRN (also known as Doppelgänger) and Matryoshka. RRN operates through a large number of websites impersonating media outlets/institutions and pseudo-media networks, promoted via massive inauthentic accounts. Its activities, while persistent, are assessed as having limited effect, and it is linked to the Russian Presidential Administration and several Russian digital marketing companies. Matryoshka specializes in creating and disseminating false content aimed at disrupting and discrediting the work of media and fact-checking organizations, with its tactics likened to meta-level online provocation.

At the European level, the report tracks newly established media outlets Voice of Europe and Euromore, created to circumvent sanctions, exposing their connections to Russian official bodies and sanctioned individuals. Simultaneously, the report documents operations such as Stop Erdogan, designed to sow discord between Turkey and the EU/Ukraine by organizing fake protests and creating provocative content, though these operations, despite requiring significant resources, had minimal online impact.

Concerning Ukraine and occupied territories, the report analyzes two campaigns: Portal Kombat and Mriya. Portal Kombat relies on a vast network of over 200 websites, acting as an echo chamber for pro-Russian information. Its creation and management are closely linked to a web development company in Crimea, and the network continues to expand to target the entire EU and even countries in Africa and Asia. Mriya is revealed as the media front for the Ukrainian separatist political project "Representative Office of the Ukrainian People," with its Telegram channel used by Russian information operators as a dissemination channel.

On the African continent, the report focuses on Project Lakhta, created by the late businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin. This organization conducted information operations in multiple African locations, falsely accusing France and Ukraine of attempting to recruit African citizens to fight in Ukraine. Its activities combined online disinformation dissemination, paid media articles, and offline fake protests, demonstrating sophisticated methods, though VIGINUM assessed its actual impact as low.

Comprehensive analysis concludes that despite the Russian state investing considerable technical, financial, and human resources into its information influence ecosystem, the effectiveness of the information manipulation campaign battles covered in this report is relatively limited. This is primarily attributed to numerous technical errors by the operators, low-quality content, and their objective being more about amplifying political polarization related to the war and exploiting existing controversies rather than fundamentally shaping the views of target audiences. The report ultimately emphasizes that these activities reveal the evolution of Russia's information warfare strategy and its enduring intent to create saturation and chaos in the global information space.