Rabu, 24 Agustus 2022

How Putin used internet censorship and fake news for six months to push the Ukraine war agenda - Sky News

Russia's failure to secure a quick victory against Ukraine forced Vladimir Putin to adapt.

Over the past six months, Russia has been fighting an information war alongside its military campaign.

How Moscow rerouted the internet

On 30 May the internet connection in occupied Kherson dropped. It returned within hours, but people could no longer access sites like Facebook, Twitter and Ukrainian news.

The internet had been rerouted to Russia. The online activity of those in Kherson was now visible to Moscow and was subject to censorship.

Internet traffic in Kherson was originally routed from network hubs elsewhere in the country and passed through Kyiv.

These connections remained in place during the first three months of the invasion before it was rerouted.

As Russia gained strength in southern Ukraine, reports emerged that it was taking over control of local internet providers in Kherson – either through cooperation or by force.

Once in control, Russia could reroute the internet to Moscow via a state-owned internet provider in Crimea.

This briefly happened on 1 May, before Ukrainian officials managed to reverse it. But on 30 May, with Russia now in control of more infrastructure, it happened again. It now appears permanent.

With the people of Kherson now forced to use Russian internet if they want to go online, they are subject to Moscow's censorship.

For three months they have been unable to access Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Some Ukrainian news websites are also blocked.

Alp Toker, director of Netblocks, an internet monitoring company, says the rerouting has "effectively placed Ukrainian citizens under the purview and surveillance of the Russian state at the flick of a switch."

Internet operators and monitors report internet access in large areas of Kherson is censored to a similar level as experienced in Russia. Some smaller areas are experiencing even tougher censorship, with some Google services blocked.

Ukrainians in Kherson are finding ways to evade Russia's efforts to monitor and censor their online activity.

When Ivanna (not her real name) leaves her home, she deletes social media and messaging apps like Instagram and Telegram in case she is stopped by a soldier who may search her phone.

"You need to be careful," she tells Sky News, using an online messaging app.

The teenager ran the public channel – said to be openly racist by prosecutors – on the encrypted Telegram app. File pic
Image: Ivana deletes apps like Telegram from her phone when she leaves the house

She goes online using a VPN (virtual private network) which hides the user's location and allows them to bypass Russian censorship.

Searches for the software spiked in Kherson when internet controls tightened.

Searches for VPN, rose in June and July, around the time a Russia extended censorship laws
Image: Searches for 'VPN' rose in June and July. Pic: Google Trends

Russia has also shut down the mobile phone network in Kherson and new SIM cards are being sold for locals to use.

Ivanna told Sky News a passport is needed to buy the sim cards, prompting fears their use may be tracked.

Cautious, she paid a stranger to buy a SIM under his name.

TV and phone communications targeted

In the unoccupied parts of Ukraine, Moscow has sought to destroy the communication infrastructure - such as TV towers and communication centres.

It's a tactic Russia initially wanted to avoid as it did not want to damage resources that would be useful as an occupying force, explains William Alberque, director of strategy, technology, and arms control for the Institute for Strategic Studies.

"Russia thought they were going to win so fast [so wouldn't] destroy infrastructure as it was going to own that infrastructure," he tells Sky News.

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But by keeping the lines open, Ukrainians were able to communicate with one another and the wider world.

Ultimately Russia moved to destroy what it was unable to quickly seize.

Examples of the attacks on communication infrastructure have been logged by the Centre for Information Resilience, which has been tracking and verifying attacks like these using open-source information.

One incident logged by the group was a communication centre in southern Ukraine.

Russia's attempt to control information has also included targeting TV towers.

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Kyiv TV tower hit by missile

Power cuts in Ukraine have also caused the nation's biggest broadband and mobile internet providers to lose connectivity.

Disinformation has doubled since the war began

Russia has used disinformation during the war to influence those in Ukraine, the country's allies, as well as its own population at home.

Examples of pro-Russian fake news include a clumsily faked video of the Ukrainian president telling people to surrender (known as a deepfake video) and social media posts accusing bombing victims of being actors.

A faked video of Zelenskyy, where his head was noticably too large for his body, was shared online
Image: A faked video of Zelenskyy, where his head was noticeably too large for his body, was shared online

Some of Russia's efforts have been effective. Moscow claimed the invasion was in part to tackle nazism in the Ukrainian government. Searches for "nazi" in both Russia and worldwide spiked in the first week of the war.

Searches for the word 'nazi' in Russia spiked around the time of the invasion
Image: Searches for the word 'Nazi' in Russia spiked around the time of the invasion. Pic: Google Trends
Searches for the term 'nazi' also rose across the world around the time of the invasion
Image: Searches for the term 'Nazi' also rose across the world around the time of the invasion. Pic: Google Trends

The number of disinformation sites has more than doubled since the Russian invasion in February, according to Newsguard, which provides credibility rankings for news and information sites.

In March, its researchers found 116 sites publishing Russia-Ukraine war-related disinformation. By August, that number had risen to 250.

RT, a Russian state-controlled international news television network, was one of the sites identified by Newsguard. Pic: RT
Image: RT, a Russian state-controlled international news television network, was one of the sites identified by Newsguard. Pic: RT

It's not possible to show that all of those sites are run on the orders of Russia, however, Moscow has allocated a boosted pot of funds for its propaganda arm.

The independent Russian-language news site The Moscow Times reported the government had "drastically increased funding for state-run media amid the war with Ukraine".

The article cited figures provided by the Russian government. It said 17.4bn rubles (£244m) had been allocated for "mass media" compared to 5.4bn rubles (£76m) the year before.

It said in March, once the war was underway, some 11.9bn rubles (£167m) were spent. This is more than twice as much as the combined spend of the two months before, which was 5bn rubles (£70m).

The research comes as no surprise to Mr Alberque, who says Russia's disinformation campaign has been "constant".

"As they shift into war mode, [Russia] has to go to directly paying salaries and no longer hoping that people will echo its messages but paying them to send a certain number of messages per day," he told Sky News.

Looking forward, Mr Alberque believes the death of the daughter of an ally of Vladimir Putin will be a distraction for those directing Russia's disinformation efforts.

Darya Dugina with Alexander Dugin. Pic: Twitter
Image: Darya Dugina with her father and Putin's ally Alexander Dugin. Pic: Twitter

Russia has pointed the finger at Ukraine for carrying out the fatal car bombing in Moscow but Kyiv denies any involvement.

An apparent high-profile assassination in the capital has sparked a number of conspiracy theories, including claims the responsibility may lie with a Russian group looking to influence the war.

"The Russian government is going to have to try to control this narrative," Mr Alberque explains.

He adds that propaganda resources that would be focused on Ukraine may now be drawn into the fallout of the death, saying: "I think it's going to be a huge information sink for them because it's going to take up time and attention."


The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

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2022-08-24 01:13:59Z
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Selasa, 23 Agustus 2022

Estonia hits out at Russian claims over Daria Dugina assassination - Financial Times

Estonia has hit back at Russian claims that a woman blamed by Moscow for planting a deadly car bomb on Saturday later fled to the Baltic country.

As tensions spread over the six-month-long Ukraine war, Tallinn dismissed the allegations over the whereabouts of the woman the Kremlin has accused of killing the daughter of a prominent supporter of President Vladimir Putin.

Speaking on television on Tuesday, Urmas Reinsalu, Estonia’s foreign minister, said: “We regard this as one instance of provocation in a very long line of provocations by the Russian Federation, and we have nothing more to say about it at the moment.”

Russia’s FSB security services claimed that Natalya Vovk, a 43-year-old Ukrainian, was responsible for the killing of Daria Dugina, the daughter of far-right ideologue Alexander Dugin. Vovk then supposedly fled to Estonia, leading Russian nationalists to demand tough action against the Baltic country that has been one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters.

Estonian police said on Monday that Russia had not made any official requests about Vovk.

Indrek Kannik, head of the state-backed think-tank the International Centre for Defence and Security, said the car bomb attack could have been a “false-flag” operation by Russia.

“It is possible that this was the FSB’s own operation, since these people had become a threat. At the same time, it is convenient to blame it on the Ukrainians. Now we are seeing that Estonia can also be dragged into this,” he told Estonian television.

Estonia suffered its biggest cyber attack in 15 years last week following the removal of a Soviet-era tank memorial from the eastern city of Narva, close to the border with Russia.

The attack had no visible impact on the Baltic country known for its digital infrastructure. In 2007 it was hit by a crippling cyber strike that Estonian officials said originated in Russia after the removal of a bronze monument to a Soviet Red Army soldier in the capital, Tallinn.

Reinsalu said the attack last week was part of a pattern of pressure from Moscow on Tallinn for its support of Ukraine, as Estonia has given more aid per capita to Kyiv than any other country.

“Why did Estonia experience the biggest cyber attacks since the Bronze Soldier night? Why did the former president of Russia say two weeks ago that it was their failure that Estonia is still a free country?” he said on Estonia’s public broadcasting channel, ETV.

Estonia has led the calls for increased sanctions against Russia, pushing for a ban on Russian gas inside the EU and Russian tourists in Europe. It has stopped Russians entering the country with an Estonian visa, although Russians can use visas issued by other EU member states.

Tallinn has also provided substantial military support to Ukraine, more than some larger EU countries despite Estonia only having a population of 1.3mn.

Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas told the country’s media on Tuesday that the governing three-party coalition failed to reach agreement on a proposal to stop Russian citizens from voting in local elections. The move would have been controversial as Russian citizens are in the majority in parts of eastern Estonia. The government is already planning to make Estonian the sole language used in schools and kindergartens.

Estonia was forcibly annexed by the Soviet Union during the second world war and regained its independence in 1991. Tens of thousands of Estonians were deported to Siberia during the Soviet era, while ethnic Russians moved into Estonia, leading to high numbers of Russian speakers in areas around the Russian border and in the capital of Tallinn.

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2022-08-23 08:34:08Z
1541871644

Donald Trump lawyers move to halt FBI review of Mar-a-Lago classified documents - Sky News

Lawyers for Donald Trump have asked a federal judge to prevent the FBI from continuing to review documents recovered from his Florida estate.

They are calling for the appointment of a special master not connected to the case who would inspect the records recovered and set aside those that are covered by executive privilege - a principle that permits presidents to withhold certain communications from public disclosure.

The request was included in a court filing that takes broad aim at the FBI investigation into the discovery of classified records at Mar-a-Lago.

The filing casts the 8 August search, in which the FBI said it recovered 11 sets of classified documents, as a "shockingly aggressive move" and describes the former president and his representatives as having cooperated for months.

"Law enforcement is a shield that protects America. It cannot be used as a weapon for political purposes," the lawyers wrote on Monday.

Explainer: Why did FBI raid Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate - and what it is investigating

"Therefore, we seek judicial assistance in the aftermath of an unprecedented and unnecessary raid at Mar-a-Lago."

More on Donald Trump

"This matter has captured the attention of the American public. Merely 'adequate' safeguards are not acceptable when the matter at hand involves not only the constitutional rights of President Trump, but also the presumption of executive privilege," the lawyers wrote.

An aerial view of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home after Trump said that FBI agents searched it, in Palm Beach, Florida
Image: An aerial view of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home

Separately on Monday, a federal judge acknowledged that redactions to an FBI affidavit spelling out the basis for the search might be so extensive as to make the document "meaningless" if released to the public.

But US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart said he continued to believe it should not remain sealed in its entirety because of the "intense" public interest in the investigation.

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Justice Department officials want to keep the entire document sealed, saying disclosing any portion of it risks compromising an ongoing criminal investigation, revealing information about witnesses and divulging investigative techniques.

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2022-08-23 02:52:42Z
1542730575

Senin, 22 Agustus 2022

Imran Khan charged with terrorism offences after weekend rally - Financial Times

Pakistani police have filed terrorism charges against Imran Khan over comments he made in a speech at the weekend, stoking political tensions as the former prime minister’s loyalists vow to resist efforts to arrest him.

Khan’s lawyers said they would challenge the charges and hundreds of his supporters gathered outside his home in Islamabad, denouncing what they called an effort by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to silence his main political rival.

“The terrorism-related charges against Imran Khan are completely biased,” said Iftikhar Durrani, a senior leader from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. “We are going to court to contest these charges.”

Khan said at a rally at the weekend that his supporters “won’t spare” the officials responsible for detaining Shahbaz Gill, one of his allies, this month.

The police alleged Khan “terrorised” the officials, while Pakistan’s information minister Marriyum Aurangzeb accused the former prime minister of “inciting the people to violence, lawlessness, rebellion and riot”.

Pakistan’s media regulator barred television channels from broadcasting Khan’s speeches and the former prime minister claimed a talk of his was blocked from YouTube.

Khan was ousted as prime minister in April in a no-confidence vote, bringing a coalition led by Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N) into power.

But the former cricketer’s popularity has surged since his defenestration. He has toured the country trying to force early elections, alleging without evidence that his removal was the result of a US-backed conspiracy in retaliation for his warm relations with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Khan has also tapped public frustration with Pakistan’s dire economic situation, despite many of the problems starting while he was in office. The country has suffered double-digit inflation, power blackouts due to energy shortages and is at risk of default on its overseas debt as foreign currency reserves dwindle.

Sharif’s government reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF for a $1.2bn loan last month, part of an assistance package first negotiated under Khan in 2019. The IMF’s board will meet next week to finalise the deal, while Saudi Arabia is also preparing to renew a $3bn deposit at Pakistan’s central bank.

The dispute between Khan and Sharif’s government escalated this month after Pakistani authorities arrested Gill for televised comments that they claim incited the military rank-and-file to disobey orders. ARY TV, the channel on which he made the comments, was also taken off air.

Huma Baqai, a political analyst in Karachi, said the government’s actions “are strengthening Imran Khan every minute. His narrative seems to be selling like hot cakes”.

Protesters outside Khan’s home promised to fight the police if Sharif’s government ordered the former prime minister’s arrest. “If the police come here to arrest Imran Khan, the government will be crossing an absolute red line. We will never allow that,” said Jamil Khan, a student and PTI activist.

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2022-08-22 08:31:47Z
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Russia pounds Ukraine, Zelenskiy warns of attacks ahead of Independence Day - Reuters

  • Zelenskiy warns Moscow could try "something particularly ugly"
  • Ukraine independence day also marks six months since invasion
  • Two civilians killed in Donetsk region over past 24 hours

Aug 22 (Reuters) - Russian forces pressed on with their offensive across several Ukrainian regions on Monday, while President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned of the potential for more serious attacks ahead of Ukraine's 31st anniversary of independence from Soviet rule.

Artillery shells rained down on Nikopol, a city near Zaporizhzhia - Europe's biggest nuclear plant, while missiles struck near the Black Sea port of Odesa over the weekend.

Zelenskiy has called for vigilance, saying Moscow could try "something particularly ugly" ahead of Wednesday, which marks Ukraine's Independence Day and also half a year since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Zelenskiy said he had discussed "all the threats" with French President Emmanuel Macron and word had also been sent to other leaders including Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"All of Ukraine's partners have been informed about what the terrorist state can prepare for this week," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, referring to Russia.

He also said if Russia went ahead with plans to try captured Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol, then it would have violated international rules and cut itself off from negotiations.

"If this despicable show trial were to go ahead ... this would be the line beyond which negotiations are no longer possible," he said. "There will be no more conversations. Our state has said everything."

The Financial Times, in an article published Sunday, quoted Gennady Gatilov, Moscow's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, as saying Erdogan had tried to facilitate dialogue.

But he dismissed speculation about talks between Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying there "was not any practical platform for having this meeting", the report said.

In Russia, authorities are investigating a suspected car bomb attack outside Moscow that killed the daughter of Alexander Dugin, an ultra-nationalist Russian ideologue who advocates Russia absorbing Ukraine. read more

While investigators said they were considering "all versions" when it came to establishing who was responsible, the Russian Foreign Ministry speculated there could be a link to Ukraine, something a Zelenskiy adviser dismissed.

"Ukraine, of course, had nothing to do with this because we are not a criminal state, like the Russian Federation, and moreover we are not a terrorist state," Mykhailo Podolyak said on Ukrainian TV.

MORE RUSSIAN STRIKES

As Ukraine prepared to mark its Independence Day embroiled in a war that has flattened towns and cities, killed thousands and forced millions to flee, officials reported more Russian strikes on targets in the east and south of the country.

In the eastern Bakhmut region, Russian forces inflicted damage from artillery and multiple rocket launcher systems in the areas of Soledar, Zaytseve and Bilogorivka settlements, Ukraine's General Staff said in its daily update on Monday.

They continued to focus their efforts on establishing full control over the territories of Luhansk and Donetsk regions, maintaining the captured areas of Kherson and parts of Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv regions, the General Staff added.

Of particular concern is the shelling of Nikopol.

As a result of overnight rocket attacks on Nikopol, Krivyi Rih and Synelnykovsky districts of the Dnipropetrovsk region, four people were injured, regional Governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram on Monday.

Over the past 24 hours, two civilians were killed in the Donetsk region in Ukraine's east, the regional administration said.

Russia denies targeting civilians.

The fighting near Zaporizhzhia and a missile strike on the southern town of Voznesensk, not far from Ukraine's second-largest atomic plant, have spurred fears of a nuclear accident.

On Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Macron held a phone call stressing the importance of ensuring the safety of nuclear installations, while underlining their "steadfast commitment" to Ukraine. read more

Moscow says it is engaged in a "special military operation" to disarm and "denazify" its neighbour. Ukraine and its allies say Moscow has launched an unprovoked war of aggression.

Russia said on Sunday that its Kalibr missiles had destroyed an ammunition depot containing missiles for U.S.-made HIMARS rockets in Ukraine's southeastern Odesa region, home to ports critical to a U.N.-brokered plan to help Ukrainian agricultural exports reach world markets again.

Kyiv said a granary had been hit. read more

Reuters was not able to independently verify the battlefield reports.

Reporting by Ron Popeski and Natalia Zinets; Writing by Himani Sarkar; Editing by Stephen Coates

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2022-08-22 07:25:00Z
1538546137

Sabtu, 20 Agustus 2022

Firefighters among those killed as two vehicles hit separate emergency crews in Turkey attending accidents - Sky News

At least 32 people have died in Turkey in two separate but very similar crashes, both involving large vehicles hitting emergency teams at the scene of earlier road accidents, officials have said.

Three firefighters, four emergency health workers and two journalists from a Turkish news agency were among the 16 people killed on the road between Gaziantep and Nizip, both in Gaziantep province in the southeast of the country, regional governor Davut Gul said.

Speaking from the scene of the crash, Mr Gul described how a passenger bus had crashed at around 10.45 local time that morning.

"While the fire brigade, medical teams and other colleagues were responding to the accident, another bus crashed 200 metres behind," he said.

"The second bus slid to this site and hit the first responders and the wounded people on the ground."

The rest of those who died were bus passengers, according to interior minister Suleyman Soylu.

Mr Gul said a 22 further people have been injured.

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The Ilhas News Agency reported two of its drone operators were killed after pulling over to help the victims of the initial crash, in which another bus had veered off the road.

Television footage from the scene showed an ambulance with severe damage and the bus overturned on its side.

Vice president Fuat Oktay said the emergency workers and journalists had "lost their lives in the line of duty".

Some 250km east, in the Derik district of Mardi, a truck hit a separate site where first responders were also attending to an earlier accident, according to footage.

Sixteen people died and 29 others were injured as a result of the crash in Mardin, Turkish health minister Fahrettin Koca said, adding that eight of the wounded were in critical condition.

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2022-08-20 19:53:28Z
1541460622

Al-Shabab: Somali forces claim end to deadly 30-hour hotel siege - BBC

Image shows security patrol before hotelGetty Images

Somali forces claim to have defeated the militants who stormed a hotel in the capital after a bloody siege.

At least 12 people were killed in the deadly 30-hour ordeal, although local media reports the death toll could be even higher.

The assailants used explosives to gain entry to Mogadishu's Hayat Hotel on Friday before violently taking control and holding guests hostage overnight.

Islamist extremist group al-Shabab has taken responsibility for the attack.

"The security forces have ended the siege now and the gunmen are dead, we've had no incoming gunfire from the building in the past hour," an unnamed official told AFP news agency.

The hotel has been largely destroyed following intense bombardment by security forces throughout Friday night and Saturday, with videos showing explosions and smoke billowing from the building's rooftop.

The BBC has not been able to confirm independently whether the attack has ended.

A police officer told Reuters that two car bombs had been used to gain access to the hotel on Friday evening - targeting its front barrier and gate.

After the initial attack, a website affiliated to al-Shabab said a group of militants were "carrying out random shootings" after having "forcibly entered" the hotel - described as a popular location for employees of the federal government to meet.

"So far, we have confirmed 12 people, mostly civilians, died," Mohammed, an intelligence officer who gave only one name, told Reuters news agency on Saturday.

Security forces struggled to gain access to the floor for hours because the gunmen, who were holding an unknown number of people hostage, had reportedly bombed out the stairs needed for access as well.

The director of Mogadishu's main trauma hospital told AFP news agency that the facility was treating at least 40 people wounded in the hotel attack and a separate mortar strike on another area of the capital.

An affiliate of al-Qaeda, al-Shabab has engaged in a long-running conflict with the federal government.

The group controls much of southern and central Somalia, but has been able to extend its influence into areas controlled by the government based in Mogadishu.

In recent weeks, fighters affiliated with the group have also attacked targets along the Somalia-Ethiopia border, which has raised concerns about a possible new strategy by al-Shabab.

The attack on Friday marks the first in the capital by the group since Somalia's new president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, was elected in May.

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2022-08-20 22:25:45Z
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