RT’s Covert Influence Around the World:
RT uses proxy outlets that purport to be independent from Russia to covertly disseminate content and messaging globally and to evade western responses to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We know that for over two years, RT has leveraged its extensive state funding to covertly recruit and pay social media personalities and provide them with unbranded content to disseminate and promote around the world while hiding RT’s involvement. RT employees are leveraging intelligence tactics, front companies, and network technologies to obfuscate their role in these covert efforts. There are several examples of this covert influence activity:
One online platform secretly run by RT is African Stream. Per the outlet’s website, africanstream.media, it is active on a wide range of social media platforms.
Additionally, in Germany, RT covertly runs the Berlin-based English language platform “Red” (thered.stream). Despite what the entity’s website claims, Red is a successor to the now-defunct RT-linked platform Redfish operating under Turkiye-based Joint Stock Company AFA Medya. Per German newspaper Tagesspiel, Red has participated in the organization of protests in Germany.
Another example of RT’s covert activity is in France, where RT hired a Paris-based journalist to run influence projects targeting French speakers.
The Russian Government is also engaged in operations meant to destabilize the government of Argentina and escalate tensions between Argentina and its neighbors. We expect that the Russian government will leverage RT, its affiliates, and its overall covert playbook in pursuit of these malign efforts.