Russia spends $250,000 on destabilization campaign in Ukraine, Kyiv says
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Moscow has allocated around $250,000 to
fund the so-called “Maidan-3” disinformation operation, aiming to exacerbate domestic
tensions within Ukraine and destabilize the government, Ukraine’s Defense
Intelligence spokesman Andriy Chernyak told Ukrainian outlet Babel on Nov. 28.
Chernyak stated that Russians conducted this campaign largely via Telegram channels. He added that it is Russia's most expensive campaign since the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, which they spent tens of millions of dollars to discredit the popular uprising in Ukraine against fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych.
The spokesman clarified that information and psycho-informational operations are being handled by units created within all Russian special services. This includes the Russia’s Military Intelligence (GRU), FSB security service, and Defense Ministry.
The deputy chief of Vladimir Putin's administration, Sergey Kiriyenko, is responsible for the autumn-winter destabilization project in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
Moreover, intelligence notes that the Kremlin is attempting to shift the focus from external threats to internal tensions in Ukraine. Vladislav Surkov, Russia’s deputy PM, who was previously the ideologue of the so-called Novorossiya project, is participating in this effort.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Moscow still "very much wants" to remove him from power and has a corresponding "mission" to be completed by the end of this year. According to him, this operation, named "Maidan-3," aims to change the president in a "coup d'état."
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