‘Destructive Information’ from Abroad Directed at Non-Russians in the North Caucasus, the Middle Volga and the Far East has Risen Dramatically Since Start of Year, FADN Official Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Nov. 14 – Over the nine months – that is since the start of the war in Ukraine -- foreign agencies have “significantly increased destructive influence on Russia with the use of ethnic and religious factors,” according to Mikhail Mishin, deputy head of the House of Peoples of Russia and a senior analyst at the Federal Agency for Nationality Affairs, says.

            According to him, this effort has been largely ineffective because of “the high immunity of Russian society to distorted information and the capacity of citizens not to fall victim to provocations” (tass.ru/obschestvo/16305601 and nazaccent.ru/content/39453-v-fadn-otmetili-uvelichenie-informacionnogo-vliyaniya-na-rossiyu-s-ispolzovaniem-nacionalnogo-faktora.html).

            Mishin doesn’t specify from where this information is coming, but he almost certainly is referring to broadcasts and Internet sites supported by Ukraine and its allies in the West. That an FADN official should refer to this is significant in that it highlights how nervous some in Moscow now are about this development.

            The FADN analyst does say that a similar pattern has been observed in the portions of Ukraine newly occupied or illegally annexed by the Russian Federation.