Russian intelligence agencies are trying to undermine U.S. influence in Africa by spreading disinformation that Africans have been the unwitting test subjects in Pentagon biological research programs and casting aspersions on Western public-health programs, U.S. officials said.
The effort is part of a Russian campaign to counter the U.S. in Africa and Latin America as Washington and Moscow battle for public opinion around the world.
At the heart of the Russian campaign is “African Initiative,” an online news service set up late last year that has used social media to promote criticism of Western public-health efforts in Africa and convened a conference in which participants disparaged Western pharmaceutical companies.
“Russian intelligence services are providing material support and guidance to the African Initiative,” said James Rubin, who oversees the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, which seeks to expose covert disinformation efforts abroad. “They are casting doubt on medical work that’s being done by legitimate medical organizations and deterring Africans from trusting medical efforts that could save lives.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the allegations as anti-Russian propaganda. “These accusations have become customary for the West,” he wrote in an email. “None of them is backed by evidence.” The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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