When Russia goes to the polls this week, Vladimir Putin will be backed by a n operation that will have cost around $1.2bn to shape public opinion and boost turnout as he seeks a public mandate for his war in Ukraine and continued rule as Russia’s potential president-for-life.
Internal Kremlin documents leaked to the Estonian outlet Delfiand shared with other media organisations, including the Guardian, detail how the administration has pump ed money into a network of NGOs and companies to create media content such as films and Telegram channels, conduct secret polling, organise youth festivals and establish new media in the occupied territories of Ukraine, which are expected to provide hundreds of thousands more votes for Putin .
“We will no longer tolerate criticism of our democracy and claims that it is not what it should be . Our democracy is the best, and we will continue to build it,” Putin’s press secretary, Dmitri Peskov , told a youth festival in southern Russia last week. Like dozens of other efforts meant to imitate civil society, the event held by the Znanie, or Knowledge, organisation was also backed by lavish Kremlin spending .
One analyst who has consulted political campaigners in Russia described the spending, if accurate, as a free-for-all, specifically noting the surge in spending on media. The head of one media organisation funded by the Kremlin claimed there had been a 20-fold increase in state spending on internet projects since 2018 and that the group supported 40% of all original Russian platform content to achieve “what the state needs”.
Much of that is patriotic content, just one part of the eff orts at “prerigging” the elections to help ensure a broad turnout and reduce the need for cruder forms of manipulation.
This story is from the March 15, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 15, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
If kids get protected from online harm, how about the rest of us?
The Australian government has proposed a ban on social media for all citizens under 16.
'It's not drought - it's looting'
Spain is increasingly either parched or flooded - and one group is profiting from these extremes: the thirsty multinational companies forcing angry citizens to pay for water in bottles.
Life in the grey Zone
Neonatal care has advanced so far that babies born as early as 21 weeks have survived. But is this type of care always the right thing to do?
Out of tune? Band Aid under fire for Africa tropes as it turns 40
Forty years ago this month, a group of pop stars gathered at a west London studio to record a single that would raise millions, inspire further starry projects, and ultimately change charity fundraising in the UK.
Deaths shine spotlight on risks of drinking on party trail
Vang Vieng is an unlikely party hub. Surrounded by striking limestone mountains and caves in central Laos, it morphed from a small farming town to a hedonistic tourist destination in the early 2000s.
Different strokes My strange and emotional week with an AI pet
Moflin can develop a personality and build a rapport with its owner - and doesn't need food or exercise. But is it comforting or alienating?
Strike zone Waking up to the rising threat of lightning
When the Barbados National Archives, home to one of the world's most significant collections of documents from the transatlantic slave trade, reported in June that it had been struck by lightning, it received sympathy and offers of support locally and internationally.
Cheap pints and sticky carpets: the old-school pub is back
In the Palm Tree pub, east London, barman Alf is taking only cash at the rattling 1960s till.
Brain gain Can a radical tax scheme convince the country's brightest to stay?
In the autumn of 2018, I moved to Lisbon for a month-long course at the Universidade .de Lisboa.
Fear and sympathy in small town divided over asylum camp
A year after anti-immigration riots, a site for asylum seekers faces hostility while some locals try to help new arrivals
