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Exposing Russia's Disinformation Drive in Africa
In late fall 2023, the United States exposed a Russian disinformation campaign targeting Latin America and aimed at undermining global support for Ukraine. The idea was to disseminate Russia-produced narratives by filtering them to local individuals and groups, as well as to local grassroots outlets. It maintained credibility of the misinformation by hiding the stories' Moscow origins.
With the campaign’s exposure, the plan failed. But now, Russia is using the same tactics in Africa.
On February 12, the U.S. State Department’s Global Engagement Center, the group that uncovered Russia’s disinformation campaign in Latin America, exposed Russia’s connection to “African Initiative.” An online news service, it uses social media to push misinformation about U.S. programs and initiatives in Africa. But the fact is that this “information agency” is supported and guided by Russia’s intelligence services and functions much the same way as the anti-Ukraine campaign worked in Latin America. “African Initiative” is focused on undermining U.S. influence in Africa.
One of the campaigns started by the “Africa Initiative” works to undermine U.S.-funded public health projects across Africa, such as U.S. efforts to combat an outbreak of a mosquito-borne viral disease. It publishes fake stories falsely claiming that Africans who have been treated at Western public health clinics, have secretly been used as test subjects in Pentagon biological research programs.
According to James Rubin, chief of the Global Engagement Center, “They are casting doubt on medical work that’s being done by legitimate medical organizations and deterring Africans from trusting medical efforts that could save lives.”
The Chief Editor of the African Initiative is Artem Sergeyevich Kureyev. He is also the General Director of Initsiativa-23, an organization that is publicly registered to an office in Moscow. It is important to note that several “African Initiative” employees were recruited from the Wagner Group once it began to disintegrate after the death of its leader, Yevgeniy Prigozhin.
“African Initiative” spreads its disinformation and propaganda through numerous social media accounts, particularly “African Initiative” and “African Kalashnikov”. Through its website and the VKontakte platform, it amplifies the disinformation by repeating it on additional pro-Russian accounts.
Foreign information manipulation is a dangerous and destabilizing tactic. It is especially damaging when targeting health information. This Kremlin disinformation campaign must come to an immediate end before it poses an even greater risk to health security in Africa.