Europe & Eurasia

Wed, Jun 28, 2023

Yevgeny Prigozhin: A history of violence and propaganda around the world

Yevgeny Prigozhin captured global attention with his mutiny in Russia; the DFRLab has tracked his efforts around the world for over half a decade.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

Africa Botnets

Wed, Jun 28, 2023

Shaping the global spyware market: Opportunities for transatlantic cooperation

The United States and its allies can do more to improve their position on spyware. Further policy action should, through greater collaboration with marketplace operators and allies and partners, work on furthering the development of norms and common understanding of what spyware can and cannot be used for.

by Jen Roberts and Emmeline Nettles

Cyber Strategy Cybersecurity
Yevgeny Prigozhin speaks on June 23, 2023. Right: Vladimir Putin's address on February 24, 2022.

Wed, Jun 28, 2023

How “Putin’s chef” undermined the Kremlin’s case for invading Ukraine

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s pre-mutiny remarks exposed Putin’s lies to the Russian public. They may be of interest to investigators as well.

by Ani Mejlumyan, Nika Aleksejeva

Russia Security
Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin speaks inside the headquarters of the Russian southern army military command center, which is taken under control of Wagner PMC, according to him, in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia in this still image taken from a video released June 24, 2023. Press service of "Concord"/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Sat, Jun 24, 2023

Russian War Report Special Edition: Prigozhin and Wagner forces mutiny against Moscow

A special edition of the Russian War Report on Wagner Group's mutiny against the Russian military and occupation of Rostov.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

BANNER: A Russian MiG-31 fighter jet equipped with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile flies over Moscow's Red Square during a rehearsal for a flyover, part of an annual military parade marking the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, May 7, 2022. (Source: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov)

Fri, Jun 23, 2023

Ongoing Russian-Belarusian drills keep up the pressure on northern Ukraine

Joint military drills repeatedly extended by Russia and Belarus put Ukraine’s northern border within missile range

by Valentin Châtelet

Belarus Conflict
Ukrainian drone operators in Ukraine’s Donbas region, February 14, 2023. Russia’s Wagner Group is attempting to recruit gamers to join its own ranks of drone pilots. (Source: Reuters Connect/Kish Kim/Sipa USA)

Fri, Jun 23, 2023

Russian War Report: Wagner attempts to draft gamers as drone pilots

Russian PMC Wagner Group is encouraging gamers to apply to serve as drone pilots in the war against Ukraine while Ukrainian forces advance on the eastern front.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

A Ukrainian national flag is seen, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the front line in the newly liberated village Neskuchne in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 13, 2023. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Thu, Jun 15, 2023

Russian War Report: Anti-Ukrainian counteroffensive narratives fail to go viral

As the Ukrainian counteroffensive continues in Ukraine's south and east, false narratives calling it unsuccessful fail to gain traction on Twitter.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

Thu, Jun 8, 2023

Russian War Report: Satellite imagery analysis captures flood threat after dam’s destruction

Satellite imagery of the Nova Kakhovka dam's collapse reveals the extent of the damage caused by extreme flooding in Kherson Oblast.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

BANNER: A presidential runoff ballot at a polling station in Istanbul featuring incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, May 28, 2023. (Source: Reuters Connect/Diego Cupolo/NurPhoto)

Wed, Jun 7, 2023

A snapshot of Turkey’s information environment prior to the presidential election

Rumors, misinformation, and unsupported allegations swirled ahead of the first round of voting

by Sayyara Mammadova

Disinformation Elections
Caption: Men are seen on the roof of a damaged apartment block following a reported drone attack in Moscow, May 30, 2023. (Source: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov)

Thu, Jun 1, 2023

Russian War Report: Moscow is on edge after the latest drone attack

Drone strikes in Moscow have the Kremlin on high alert. In Georgia, the pro-Russia Prime Minister blamed NATO for Russian invasion of Ukraine.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

BANNER: Highlights from a bubble chart showing the volume of each channel’s posts forwarded by other channels in the network. The bigger a bubble is, the more messages were forwarded from the given channel by the other eighteen channels.

Thu, Jun 1, 2023

Coordinated Telegram channels aggregate anti-Ukrainian news from around the globe

Network promotes anti-Ukrainian news from multiple countries while heavily amplifying content from a Telegram channel allegedly affiliated with Yevgeny Prigozhin's RIA FAN news agency

by Givi Gigitashvili, Esteban Ponce de León

Asia Balkans

Thu, May 25, 2023

Russian War Report: Belgorod incursion brings deluge of online mockery of Russia’s defenses

After an anti-Putin Russian volunteer military unit attacked Belgorod, trolls and bloggers online viciously ridiculed Russian defenses.

by Digital Forensic Research Lab