Ukraine (closed; covers till August 2014)

[OUTLAW 09]

Yes, it is extremely ridiculous, and also very obviously ridiculous. It's a good example of the Russian ineptness at handling information... who reads Interfax material anyway, and how many people are really going to believe it? The threat of an information campaign is measured not by its extent, but by its quality and its impact, areas where the Russians go badly wrong. Shoveling hotter fresher BS on top of old stale BS does not convince people. Eventually it just ends up discrediting the source.

Putin did of course get a patriotic bounce in popularity after Crimea, but how long will that last? Isn't there a deep-rooted cynicism and distrust toward official information in Russia? How long will it be before that takes over and the crude propaganda campaign starts shooting itself in the foot?

Outside of Russia Putin has a few admirers on the conspiracy theory fringe, largely among those who imagine him as a challenger to some imaginary "New World Order" construct and those who admire his strutting homophobic machismo. That's a fringe of a fringe, though, and one without influence. Of course those who really loathe the US will side with Russia by reflex, but that would be the case no matter what information goes around.

I really don't see Russian information operations as much of a threat. Extensive, yes... but effective? Are they selling the product? To who?



Yes, many people have been saying this since long before the Ukraine events.

Dayuahn--then you do not understand how they have been controlling the global news cyles and how the lancing works.

You evidently do not understand the target populations as well---the Russian population, the Crimea and eastern Ukrainians, and the Europeans. The US population was to a degree influenced by the US RT which actually has a large following and a number of US organizations and politicans.

I posted back a really long time ago in this thread---a chart depicting the depth of the information war.

It was working extremely well until the airliner crash and then crashed their information war with the plane.

See if you had understood the cycle then you would have noticed the first lance was Interfax, then followed by about 4-5 hrs later an extended article from RIA that set the tone to be picked up by the Global press as the press Googles as well looking for short article to pass on and act as filler.

Here in Berlin is a 100% Russian owned media company that is one of the worlds largest providers of video/video articles, film, and photo materials to the global news agencies, TV stations, and print media. So guess whose view point is being passed daily?

That is just the two news agencies---then look at the world wide web of news stations, TV stations and foreign reporters in the various countries that continued the drum beats---one story I tracked for six complete global news cycles.

By the way even CNN got caught carrying a complete fake report funneled to them by the information war. Yesterday a Brit TV reporter for RT UK can captured by the UA held of awhile and then deported--and he is not a friend of the Ukraine and reports in the UK.

The Maidan was the trigger for the Crimea and the eastern Ukraine---not the cause.

If you have been following Putin's comments since the Crimea you would have caught one video where he gave instructions to his NSC to analyze the entire range of colored revolts and the Arab Springs to see what Russia must do to protect itself. This comment was carried in clear text and in front of TVs---the world just raced over it.

Then over the last ten days a whole series of laws to do just that have been passed.

So explain to me again just how did the world know before the Maidan that Putin was "threatened" by the colored revolts when he himself did not voice that until three months ago?