Russia attempted to undermine the legitimacy of at least eleven elections in nine democratic countries between 2020 and 2022 according to US intelligence services, which have warned countries around the world about the Kremlin’s ongoing operations.

In addition, Russian intelligence services attacked the validity of elections in 17 other countries through social media campaigns, causing “domestic stories”.

But Washington considers these cases to be the only cases a small part of Russia’s destabilization activities.

These warnings were included in a diplomatic cable sent and accessed by the US State Department to numerous countries around the world. EFE.

In the cable, US authorities report increasing efforts by Russian intelligence services to “undermine democratic processes worldwide‘ and influence election results through disinformation campaigns.

“The United States has recognized Russia’s attempts to undermine democratic processes, and this is a growing concern: “Russia is conducting operations to undermine public confidence in the integrity of the elections themselves,” the cable explains.

Among the recipients of the diplomatic cable are Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, EcuadorMexico or Uruguay in America or Spain, Italy, France and the United Kingdom in Europe.

Senior State Department and U.S. intelligence officials, who asked not to be identified, pointed to two specific cases in South America and Europe in which Russian intelligence services activated electoral disinformation campaigns.

“In one case in South America, Russian Telegram channels carried fake news reports about alleged fraud and Russian trolls on social media platforms amplified concerns about post-election instability and violence.“US officials have explained it.

While the sources declined to identify the affected South American country, they did point out that the US “discovered web pages linked to Russian intelligence during the protests against the election results.”

In the case of another country, in this case in Europe, US intelligence agencies discovered websites linked to Russia that distributed articles in English with accusations of election fraud.

Also in a European election in 2020, the Russian Federal Security Service, the heir to the Soviet KGB, used intermediaries “to deploy agitators and intimidate poll workers, organize voting day protests and sabotage the vote abroad”.

The Kremlin considers these operations “effective” and cheap, according to the same sources, who added that they share information with governments around the world “to get a better idea of ​​Russian tactics and techniques.”

“Electoral interference is a cheap and easy operation. In many cases, they amplify local narratives that question the integrity of the election.like responses to Covid, US officials noted.

“Our perspective is that Russia is capitalizing on what it sees as a relatively cheap success in the 2020 (presidential election) in the United States to apply it globally,” they concluded. (JO)