Ukraine Shuts Down Huge Bot Farm Pushing Russian Propaganda
Ukraine has traced a Russian propaganda operation to a bot farm that was secretly operating in the country’s own capital of Kyiv.
The farm operated more than 1 million bot accounts, which helped the propaganda operation build an audience of over 400,000 users on social media, according(Opens in a new window) to the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU). On Tuesday, the SSU announced it had dismantled the bot farm, which belonged to an unnamed Russian citizen in Kyiv who positioned himself as a “political expert.”
“The propaganda ‘potential’ of this bot farm was also used by Russian special services,” the SSU added. “In particular, through bots, they spread fake news about the situation on the front and carried out information subversive operations.” This included trying to discredit Ukraine’s First Lady and alleging tensions between President Volodymyr Zelensky and his top generals.
The bot farm spread the propaganda with the help of at least 5,000 SIM cards and 200 proxy servers. This allowed the propaganda operation to spoof various IP addresses and register fake users accounts, without tipping off the social media services and their anti-bot measures. In addition, the bot farm also operated out of the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Vinnytsia.
The Russian citizen behind the bot farm seems to have been working with pro-Russian forces in Ukraine. The SSU notes “domestic political forces” ordered the bot farm operation, which also had ties to a Ukrainian lawmaker.
It’s not the first time Ukraine has busted a bot farm during its ongoing war with Russia. Back in March, the SSU seized(Opens in a new window) another five bot farms that were also spreading pro-Russian disinformation from within the country.
“The adversary
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