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Incredibly important story on Russian intel op to sow disinformation pointing the finger at Ukraine for 2016 U.S. election interference. A few key takeaways: 1/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/us/politics/ukraine-russia-interference.html
Much of the disinfo convo since the election has focused on the role of social media and IRA-style ops. But ops run by Russian intel services often look different - and in this case, used good old shoe-leather tactics of proxies to spread a particular narrative. 2/
This is an important reminder of the range of tools and tactics that Russia uses to undermine and interfere in democracies - and why we need to focus not on just one aspect, and to remember that their tactics evolve. 4/
It's also an important reminder that disinfo spreads not only on social media, but across the broader information ecosystem. 5/
And as Fiona Hill noted in her testimony, this deflection tactic is consistent with what we've seen in the past when Russia has been fingered for bad behavior. 6/
The point is not to prove its innocence, but as I told @julianbarnes, “The strategy is simply to create the impression that it is not really possible to know who was really behind it" - in this case, the 2016 election interference. 7/
Finally, this is another reminder that Russia's interference operations are ongoing - aimed not only at elections but at democratic institutions more broadly. Yet 3 years after 2016, we have not taken meaningful steps to increase our resilience and counter these activities. 8/
The response to this revelation needs to be bipartisan. Russia's goal of dividing Americans continues to succeed -- including very clearly through this operation. It's past time to recognize that standing together is the best way to defend ourselves. End.
