Intercontinental lies: FSB launches disinformation and conspiracy campaign in Africa

The nascent media outlet swiftly commenced recruitment drives, predominantly targeting African students studying in Russia. As elucidated by Kureev to the Russian farmers’ newspaper “Village Life” (which suddenly showed interest in all matters African), “more than 30,000 African students currently pursue studies in Russia, poised to potentially become journalists in their home countries.” The article added that the African Initiative agency had already opened bureaus in Mali and Burkina Faso, with plans for two more hindered only by funding shortages and a dearth of trained journalists. The extent of Kureev's successful recruitment of foreign students remains elusive, yet it is clear that he has already put some African students to use. In recent months, Kureev has convened meetings with African students’ clubs at Moscow’s famed MGIMO University and at the prestigious Moscow State University.

The rhetoric of the FSB agency's publications largely echoes that of Soviet times, albeit substituting the old favorite gripe about “American imperialism” with the trendier term “colonialism.” The information agency focuses on all topics of relevance to the Kremlin's agenda, extensively covering anti-American rallies in the Central African Republic while promoting stories about how “The United States is attempting to conquer Africa with the use of Facebook, dollars, and the LGBT movement.”

At the same time, some of the outlets under Kureev's control have fabricated legends even more outrageous than the old Soviet propaganda lie that the CIA had developed the AIDS virus. A recent campaign that can be attributed to Kureev’s agency propagates a conspiracy theory alleging that Western pharmaceutical companies are using Africa for biological warfare experiments and for illicit trials of various drugs. In many respects, this campaign builds upon a previous conspiracy theory — also attributable to the FSB — that “disclosed” the existence of American-run bio-laboratories in Ukraine. The African campaign adds into the mix concepts of colonialism, the demonization of Bill Gates, and horror stories about the perils of vaccination. An example of this campaign is an article published on the RusAfro Media portal titled “Recipe for Sovereign Medicine: Healthcare and Russia's African Strategy.” The article features the following paragraphs:

“There is also a subjective factor associated with increased attention from society and the national intelligentsia to issues of medical sovereignty, the activities of major Western pharmaceutical companies, and even personally Bill Gates. It is enough to say that the topic of genetically-modified mosquitoes has become widespread in Africa; literally everyone talks about them, from inhabitants of high offices to residents of traditional huts in rural wilderness...

…The conference's particularly acute moments were the discussion of the vicious practice of Western medical companies using the population of African countries as a «free clinical trial base,» as well as the practically uncontrolled (by national authorities) implementation of biological projects and research in West Africa by Western companies.”

The article is illustrated with a photograph of graffiti in Burkina Faso depicting a syringe as a mosquito. Considering that we have found no other source in Africa-focused media for the genetically modified mosquito conspiracy, it appears that the graffiti itself is part of the same disinformation campaign.