Ukraine: The Latest - 'Putin's trolls'
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- Vladimir PutinPresident of Russia
For over a year, the Telegraph's team of experts in London and correspondents on-the-ground have been analysing Putin's invasion of Ukraine every weekday on Ukraine: The Latest podcast.
In today's episode, alongside updates from the in Bakhmut, we discuss the activities of Russian 'trolls'. Finnish journalist and author of a book on this phenomena, Jessika Aro, explains in more detail:
"In St.Petersburg in Russian, in which in this office building, these young adults were operating and working as so-called trolls as they had named themselves. So what they did was they were putting up these fake profiles and personalities on social media and through those spreading pro Putin commentaries and comments".
This isn't something new, but Jessika feels strongly that since the invasion of Ukraine, their intensity has increased:
"I feel they have become even more hardcore and even more aggressive after the 24th of February last year.
The announcement of Putin the same day where he justified the attack and the escalated warfare against Ukraine was the purest form of very evil information warfare where he had many different target audiences and now we are witnessing this. Very radicalized populations and audiences who have been targets of this information warfare for already years and years".
In a chilling admission, when questioned by our podcast host on whether Western countries and allies are alive to this threat, Jessika commented:
"No, unfortunately. I have been talking about this topic and trying to lobby for better legislation to support and protect citizens from this sinister form of public manipulation and brainwashing.
And one way of trying to protect the populations would be to uncover these different information warfare operations while they are ongoing. Because now we are seeing examples of Russian operations being uncovered only years after they have already taken their toll. And I feel that is, that is really a problem".
War in Ukraine is reshaping our world. Every weekday the Telegraph's top journalists analyse the invasion from all angles - military, humanitarian, political, economic, historical - and tell you what you need to know to stay updated.
With over 24 million downloads, our Ukraine: The Latest podcast is your go-to source for all the latest analysis, live reaction and correspondents reporting on the ground.
Ukraine: The Latest's regular contributors are:
David Knowles
David is Head of Social Media at the Telegraph where he has worked for almost two years. Previously he worked for the World Economic Forum in Geneva. He speaks French.
Dominic Nicholls
Dom is Associate Editor (Defence) at the Telegraph having joined in 2018. He previously served for 23 years in the British Army, in tank and helicopter units. He had operational deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland.
Francis Dearnley
Francis is Assistant Comment Editor at the Telegraph. Prior to working as a journalist, he was Chief of Staff to the Chair of the Prime Minister's Policy Board at the Houses of Parliament in London. He studied History at Cambridge University and on the podcast explores how the past shines a light on the latest diplomatic, political, and strategic developments.
They are also regularly joined by the Telegraph's foreign correspondents around the world, including Joe Barnes (Brussels), Sophia Yan (China), Nataliya Vasilyeva (Russia), Roland Oliphant (Senior Reporter) and Colin Freeman (Reporter). In London, Venetia Rainey (Weekend Foreign Editor), Katie O'Neill (Assistant Foreign Editor), and Verity Bowman (News Reporter) also frequently appear to offer updates.
Listen to Ukraine: the Latest, The Telegraph's daily podcast, using the audio player at the top of this article or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast app.