Russian trolls target U.S. support for Ukraine, Kremlin documents show

Washington Post ^ | 4-8-2024 6:30 a.m. EDT | Catherine Belton, Joseph Menn

[UMCRevMom@aol.com]

When President Biden proposed an additional $24 billion in supplemental funding for Ukraine in August, Moscow spin doctors working for the Kremlin were ready to try to undermine public support for the bill, internal Kremlin documents show.

In an ongoing campaign that seeks to influence congressional and other political debates to stoke anti-Ukraine sentiment, Kremlin-linked political strategists and trolls have written thousands of fabricated news articles, social media posts and comments that promote American isolationism, stir fear over the United States’ border security and attempt to amplify U.S. economic and racial tensions, according to a trove of internal Kremlin documents obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by The Washington Post.

One of the political strategists, for instance, instructed a troll farm employee working for his firm to write a comment of “no more than 200 characters in the name of a resident of a suburb of a major city.” The strategist suggested that this fictitious American “doesn’t support the military aid that the U.S. is giving Ukraine and considers that the money should be spent defending America’s borders and not Ukraine’s. He sees that Biden’s policies are leading the U.S. toward collapse.”

The documents — numbering more than 100 and dating between May 2022 and August 2023 — were provided to The Post to expose Kremlin propaganda operations aimed at undermining support for Ukraine in the United States, as well as their scale and methods. The files are part of a series of leaks that have allowed a rare glimpse into Moscow’s parallel efforts to weaken support for Ukraine in France and Germany, as well as destabilize Ukraine itself. -excerpt

[Darksheare]

Thought you’d like that.
Saw it yesterday and figured it would be useful.

[UMCRevMom@aol.com]

I didn’t think you could get anyone sleazier that Bill & Hillary... Then came Obama!

[UMCRevMom@aol.com]

Animation of your LINK at Comment #214 made by ‘Slightly left of Centre’ kind of says it all, right?

[BroJoeK]

mass55th: "They can print all the money they want.
That doesn't mean there is anything backing it.
And all that does is create even bigger problems down the road."

I'm asking you seriously, why are you so confused about this?

Do you not grasp that national defense must be the Federal government's first priority, regardless of whatever else it may or may not do, it must always, as the US Constitution says, "provide for the common defense"?

I would add another first priority, as spelled out in the 14th Amendment, and that is to guarantee our national debt.

Beyond those, and what it takes for the functioning of government itself -- i.e., the Judiciary -- every other Federal program is secondary, or optional, or subject to being sacrificed for more basic requirements, especially national defense.

That's why it's impossible to say, "we can't afford to defend ourselves."

How is that not perfectly clear and obvious to anybody who loves their country?

[BroJoeK]

Darksheare to blitz128: "If they shriek at everyone that they are putinists because they don’t support the war then there’s a problem.
I don’t support either side or our involvement.
So what say you?"

blitz128: "Fair enough, time will tell if that has the same “peace in our time” results"

Right, the basic argument -- that it's in the US national interest to help Ukraine defeat Russia's invasion, is:

"Putin is..." take your pick of:

1. Hitler
2. Mussolini
3. Tojo's Japan
4. Stalin
5. Mao
6. the Devil... etc.

"Russkiy Mir" is Mein Kampf:

and "Ukraine is..." take your pick of:

1. China (1931 invaded by Japan)
2. Ethiopia (1935 invaded by Italy)
3. the Rhineland (1936),
4. Austria (1938),
5. Czechoslovakia (1939),
6. Poland (1939),
7. Albania (1939 invaded by Italy)
8. Denmark & Norway (1940)
9. Belgium & Netherlands (1940),
10. France (1940),
11. Libia and Egypt (1940 invaded by Italy)
12. Indochina (1940 invaded by Japan)
13. Yugoslavia & Greece (1941)
14. etc., etc....

Since I was a boy, the US was criticized for not taking action soon enough in WWII, and for remaining isolationists for so long that aggressive empire builders became almost too powerful to finally defeat.
That is why we've maintained now almost 80 years of "forward defense" to prevent future aggressors from growing out of control.

Through nearly all of those 80 years it was the Democrats' Leftists' counter-culture "make love not war" hippy types who wanted to abandon the world to communist dictatorships.

Now suddenly, alleged Free Republic type conservatives want to get in on all Democrats "free love"??

Naw.... not going to believe it.

Russia's former President and Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev,
showing the government's views of Ukraine and Europe:

The old Tsarist Russian Empire:

[mass55th]

"Do you not grasp that national defense must be the Federal government's first priority"

Well, they're doing a piss-poor job of that at the southern border. This country has been over-run, and it's not going to end any time soon.

And you quote the U.S. Constitution as if that has any meaning these days. Save yourself the bother of trying to argue your claims. It won't work on me. This country is broke, and broken.

[blitz128]

Great post, there is a guy I listen to pierce from atp geopolitics on YouTube, he is a leftist but supports defeating Russia in Ukraine.
Once asked him before the war were you a “ the military industrial complex is the problem shut it down, peace not war type”?

He was, so I said well you are seeing the results, Europe as demilitarizing. See what his stance is after the war

[Darksheare]

Oh look, someone who tells others they’re putinistas for not supporting the war adventure.
How droll.

[blitz128]

Just like support for Ukraine aid is a political issue, so are other issues like border security in the US.

The border problem existed before xiden was elected, and will continue after him, and after the war is over regardless of the outcome.

The problem is not caused by lack of funding, nor aid given to Ukraine. The problem could be solved quickly if DC decided they wanted to, both dims and repubes are to blame

As can be seen, little to no aid has been sent to Ukraine in last 6 months and problem still exists if not worse

Not wanting aid to go to Ukraine does not necessarily make you pro Putin, but it is a distinction without a difference

We don’t want aid going to Europe to fight hitler, but i don’t support hitler….

[BroJoeK]

mass55th: "Well, they're doing a piss-poor job of that at the southern border.
This country has been over-run, and it's not going to end any time soon."

Our open Southern border is a feature of Democrat policy, it is not a failure or mistake, it's what Democrats want and can only be ended when Democrats are voted out of political power, hopefully on November 5.

How is it possible you don't understand that?

mass55th: "And you quote the U.S. Constitution as if that has any meaning these days.
Save yourself the bother of trying to argue your claims.
It won't work on me.
This country is broke, and broken."

FRiend, what do you think you're doing here?
Why are you pretending to be a Free Republic style conservative when you sound more like a radical revolutionary?

The last time I checked, Free Republic is still a conservative site, and the word conservative in American context means the Constitution and the Bible.
If you are not here to defend both, then you are not truly conservative, and might want to look for a "home" somewhere else.

Of course the US Constitution is under attack, it has always been under attack, during some periods more desperately than others, but the Constitution has always required brave people to stand up and defend it, sometimes with their own lives.

If you won't stand up to defend the Constitution in its hours of greatest need, then I'm pretty certain the devil will have a nice warm place reserved for you in deepest of his pits in h*ll.

[BroJoeK]

Darksheare: "Oh look, someone who tells others they’re putinistas for not supporting the war adventure.
How droll."

Your word "droll" is not an argument or fact that in any way challenges the truth of this matter, which is:

[blitz128]

Exactly

[mass55th]

"Our open Southern border is a feature of Democrat policy"

Wake up Skippy. Are you that naive, or have you been living in a cave? The illegal alien problem has been going on here for decades. It hasn't gone away just because of RAT policy. Congressional Republicans could have done plenty over the years during the sessions they had the majority, but like failing to protect people's ballots from voter fraud, they've been MIA on the issue.

"If you are not here to defend both, then you are not truly conservative, and might want to look for a "home" somewhere else."

LOL!! I've been here over 26 years. I'm going nowhere. What an arrogant, pompous individual you are. Do you own this site? Go peddle your stupidity to someone who might want to hear it. You sound just like a bossy Karen who can't stop telling people what to do with their lives.

[Darksheare]

Absolutely nothing is being done for our border since Trump left office.
He at least tried to do something that actually was useful and showed some results from the investment.

[Darksheare]

Oh, you don’t like it.
Quaint.

[blitz128]

Absolutely agree,
Making my point, border security is political.

The border was not being secured before the war in Ukraine, Trump was trying but deep state fought him tooth and nail, lyin er ah Ryan as one of the chief dep states.

My point is and has been, when people conflate aid to Ukraine with border fiasco there is no relation.

If you can show me that the border issue began when the war began, then I will listen

[Darksheare]

No, your point is still flawed.
It isn’t conflated, it Is irrelevant.
Ukraine is not important, our birder is.

[blitz128]

Don’t see how my point is flawed
You are free to have your opinion, but my point stands
Ukraine aid or not, border security enforcement has not existed.

We have not significantly aided Ukraine since September, and border is still broken.

War could end tomorrow and nothing on the border would change.

Fact is if there was political will to solve border invasion it could be done , and aid Ukraine

[Darksheare]

“Don’t see how my point is flawed”

Ukraine is irrelevant to our birder, it’s continued existence or nonexistenxe doesn’t change the issues of our birder.
What does change is we are broke as a country yet morons want to continue looting the treasury to send money everywhere while ignoring our own country.
If we cut off all such graft, we might actually be able to get the border fixed.
There is no good reason why we must ignore our birder.
Ukraine is irrelevant to our border.

[blitz128]

Thanks for making my point Ukraine is irrelevant to our order being unsecured

Was the border secure before the Russian invasion?

Were we debt free before the invasion.

The border being unsecured has nothing to do with the debt, money spent on Ukraine and frankly out debt is barely budged by actual spending