A top Kremlin propagandist bragged about Russia’s “covert projects” in the West that have shaped public opinion on the war in Ukraine during an appearance on state TV in February. It has since resurfaced.
Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the state-controlled media organization RT, made the comment during a live broadcast on channel Russia-1. An excerpt was posted on X, formerly Twitter, by Julia Davis, the founder of the Russia Media Monitor watchdog group.
Margarita Simonyan waits to attend a meeting of Russian President and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin with his confidants in Moscow on January 31, 2024. On state TV, the editor in chief of the international channel RT bragged about Russia’s “covert projects” in the West, which have shaped public opinion on the war in Ukraine.
NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP/Getty Images
“I’ve often highlighted Margarita Simonyan stupidly boasting about RT’s covert projects targeting Americans, like the ones for which RT’s employees were just indicted. Loose lips sink ships, Rita. Keep talking,” Davis said on Wednesday, resharing the video.
Simonyan told fellow guests on state TV that Ukraine’s allies in the war “are all so jumpy is because public opinion in the West is changing, very rapidly and very cheerfully.”
This has largely been caused by Russia’s “covert projects” that are working to shape public opinion in the West on the war, Simonyan said.
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Russia was “able to build an enormous network, an entire empire of covert projects that is working with the public opinion, bringing truth to Western audiences,” said Simonyan.
“I will cautiously call it our breakthrough moment that we observe on the front lines and rejoice over it,” she added.
“First of all, we owe this breakthrough to our incredible soldiers, but look at what they are writing about in the West, what our enemies are writing themselves… that this is due to their lack of ammo. They’re losing one town after the next due to a lack of ammo.”
Simonyan said that Ukraine had a shortage of ammunition as the country’s Western allies were clashing with each other on the topic of sending military aid and assistance.
“I think there is certainly an element of truth to this; why don’t they have enough ammo? Because there are endless arguments in the power structures of the Western countries that swore and promised to help them, about providing this aid,” Simonyan said.
She added: “Why are the arguments taking place? Because public option is changing. This should never be underestimated. Working with the public opinion is a weapon.”
The U.S. in July warned its citizens about being targeted by Russian propaganda in the lead-up to the November 2024 election.
Russia “remains the predominant threat to U.S. elections”, the Foreign Malign Influence Center (FMIC), an agency that operates under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said in an election security update.
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