{"id":22974,"date":"2026-06-23T19:16:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/?p=22974"},"modified":"2026-06-23T19:16:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:16:13","slug":"rosiya-viyna-internet-vitek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/science-tech\/rosiya-viyna-internet-vitek\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia is trying to reshape the internet: a leak of documents reveals a large-scale influence campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"news-lead\">The Russian agency Social Design Agency has developed an ambitious project aimed at creating alternative sources of information to influence Wikipedia and artificial intelligence. A leak of documents reveals the Kremlin\u2019s new information warfare strategies.<\/p>\n<div class=\"news-summary-box\">\n<div class=\"summary-title\">Briefly about the main points<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Russia is launching a project to influence Wikipedia and AI.<\/li>\n<li>Fake websites and research centres are being set up.<\/li>\n<li>The documents point to attempts to tamper with data intended for AI.<\/li>\n<li>A network of 42 websites spreading disinformation has been uncovered.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>The Kremlin is moving beyond social media<\/h2>\n<p>For many years, Russian disinformation campaigns have been associated primarily with troll farms, bots and <a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/world\/lora-lumer-rosijska-propaganda\/\">disinformation<\/a> on Facebook, X, Telegram and other social media platforms. However, a new leak of documents reveals a far more ambitious approach.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/features\/2026-06-23\/leaked-files-show-russia-s-plan-to-influence-ai-and-search-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">materials<\/a>, obtained <strong><em>Bloomberg<\/em><\/strong>, the Moscow-based Social Design Agency has developed a large-scale programme provisionally titled \u00abProject 2026\u00bb. Its aim was to create alternative sources of information that could influence not only people, but also search engine algorithms and large language models of artificial intelligence. In effect, this is an attempt to shape the information environment from which modern systems draw data for their responses.<\/p>\n<h2>Fake Wikipedia sites and bogus think tanks<\/h2>\n<p>One of the key areas of the project was the creation of websites that looked similar to <a href=\"https:\/\/uk.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%96%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wikipedia<\/a>. One of the documents described the creation of a dedicated website for Armenia, which was intended to replicate the structure of a popular encyclopaedia. Once launched, the operators planned to promote it in search results and gradually insert pro-Russian narratives into the most-visited articles. Similar projects were also being prepared for Germany and other countries.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the leak contains information about the creation of fictitious research centres and pseudo-expert platforms, which were intended to publish material containing pro-Russian conclusions and to cite one another in order to boost credibility.<\/p>\n<h2>Impact on artificial intelligence<\/h2>\n<p>Plans for working with systems attracted particular attention <a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/science-tech\/google-gemini-omni-search-youtube-ai\/\">artificial intelligence<\/a>. The documents explicitly state the objective of \u00abtraining\u00bb AI platforms using specially prepared articles and web resources. According to cybersecurity experts, this strategy resembles what is known as \u00abdata poisoning\u00bb \u2014 an attempt to flood the internet with large amounts of content containing the desired messages, so that algorithms begin to use it as a source of information.<\/p>\n<p>Small language segments may be particularly vulnerable in this case, as quality control of sources is traditionally lower there than on the English-language internet.<\/p>\n<h2>How the network worked<\/h2>\n<p>The investigation uncovered dozens of websites linked by a single infrastructure. Journalists confirmed the existence of at least 42 websites that used the same servers and technical solutions. Many of them published articles about politicians, international events and the war in Ukraine. However, some articles contained manipulative claims or distorted conclusions that differed from the content of the original research.<\/p>\n<p>The documents also indicate the use of specialised public opinion monitoring systems in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n<h2>From \u00abtroll factories\u00bb to cognitive warfare<\/h2>\n<p>Analysts believe that the new scheme represents an evolution of Russian information operations. Whereas previously the main focus was on the mass dissemination of content via social media, the emphasis is now shifting towards controlling information sources utilised by search engines and artificial intelligence. The documents also mention activities linked to the well-known Storm-1516 operation, which Western experts have repeatedly linked to Russian disinformation campaigns. Among other things, false stories about the President of Ukraine were analysed <strong>Vladimir Zelensky<\/strong> and the Prime Minister of Armenia <strong>Nicola Pashinyan<\/strong>, which have racked up tens of millions of views online.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u0420\u043e\u0441\u0456\u0439\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0430 \u0430\u0433\u0435\u043d\u0446\u0456\u044f Social Design Agency \u0440\u043e\u0437\u0440\u043e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u0430 \u0430\u043c\u0431\u0456\u0442\u043d\u0438\u0439 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0454\u043a\u0442, \u043c\u0435\u0442\u043e\u044e \u044f\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0454 \u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e\u0440\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044f \u0430\u043b\u044c\u0442\u0435\u0440\u043d\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0432\u043d\u0438\u0445 \u0434\u0436\u0435\u0440\u0435\u043b \u0456\u043d\u0444\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0430\u0446\u0456\u0457 \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0432\u043f\u043b\u0438\u0432\u0443 \u043d\u0430 Wikipedia \u0442\u0430 \u0448\u0442\u0443\u0447\u043d\u0438\u0439 \u0456\u043d\u0442\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0442. \u0412\u0438\u0442\u0456\u043a \u0434\u043e\u043a\u0443\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0456\u0432 \u0440\u043e\u0437\u043a\u0440\u0438\u0432\u0430\u0454 \u043d\u043e\u0432\u0456 \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0442\u0435\u0433\u0456\u0457 \u0456\u043d\u0444\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0430\u0446\u0456\u0439\u043d\u043e\u0457 \u0432\u0456\u0439\u043d\u0438 \u041a\u0440\u0435\u043c\u043b\u044f. \u041a\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0442\u043a\u043e \u043f\u0440\u043e \u0433\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0432\u043d\u0435 \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0456\u044f \u0437\u0430\u043f\u0443\u0441\u043a\u0430\u0454 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0454\u043a\u0442 \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0432\u043f\u043b\u0438\u0432\u0443 \u043d\u0430 Wikipedia \u0442\u0430 \u0428\u0406. \u0421\u0442\u0432\u043e\u0440\u044e\u044e\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f \u0444\u0430\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0438\u0432\u0456 \u0441\u0430\u0439\u0442\u0438 \u0442\u0430 \u0434\u043e\u0441\u043b\u0456\u0434\u043d\u0438\u0446\u044c\u043a\u0456 \u0446\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0440\u0438. \u0414\u043e\u043a\u0443\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0438 \u0432\u043a\u0430\u0437\u0443\u044e\u0442\u044c \u043d\u0430 \u0441\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0431\u0438 \u043e\u0442\u0440\u0443\u0454\u043d\u043d\u044f \u0434\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0445 \u0434\u043b\u044f [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207433346,"featured_media":22973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_description":"\u0420\u043e\u0441\u0456\u0439\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0430 \u0430\u0433\u0435\u043d\u0446\u0456\u044f Social Design Agency \u0440\u043e\u0437\u0440\u043e\u0431\u0438\u043b\u0430 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0454\u043a\u0442 \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0432\u043f\u043b\u0438\u0432\u0443 \u043d\u0430 Wikipedia \u0442\u0430 \u0428\u0406, \u0441\u043f\u0440\u0438\u0447\u0438\u043d\u0438\u0432\u0448\u0438 \u043d\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0439 \u0435\u0442\u0430\u043f \u0456\u043d\u0444\u043e\u0440\u043c\u0430\u0446\u0456\u0439\u043d\u043e\u0457 \u0432\u0456\u0439\u043d\u0438.","rank_math_title":"\u0420\u043e\u0441\u0456\u044f \u0437\u0430\u043f\u0443\u0441\u043a\u0430\u0454 \u043a\u0430\u043c\u043f\u0430\u043d\u0456\u044e \u0432\u043f\u043b\u0438\u0432\u0443 \u043d\u0430 Wikipedia \u0442\u0430 \u0428\u0406","rank_math_focus_keyword":"\u0420\u043e\u0441\u0456\u044f,Wikipedia","td_subtitle":"","subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[805620],"tags":[806764],"class_list":["post-22974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science-tech","tag-806764"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207433346"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22974"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22975,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22974\/revisions\/22975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}