The US-based Free Russia Foundation (FRF) has organized a bot farm for anti-war and anti-Kremlin campaigning on social media. The project, called "Legion of Elves," appeared after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, said its founder, director of the FRF Center for Strategic Communications, Yegor Kuroptev, in an interview with The Insider.
According to him, in just a few months, a small experimental structure became "a huge machine – probably the largest existing counter-propaganda project" and turned into the Center for Strategic Communications. Now the Legion of Elves reports directly to it.
Kuroptev noted that the project has two goals: its participants seek to "stop the war and help Russians not to be zombified by the Kremlin." About 100 activists, who live in different countries, work in 900 pro-government publics, leaving an average of 160,000 comments per month. Most of them have been involved in opposition activities in Russia in the past. In total, since the Legion of Elves was founded, they have posted 2.3 million comments, mostly on VKontakte.
Kuroptev noted that the publications are primarily aimed at ordinary people who have been influenced by propaganda. "These are the people we have to get out of there. Information warfare is a war for the minds of our fellow citizens," he explained. According to him, the project participants want a person who has watched TV to see a different point of view on social media and start doubting the veracity of what is shown on the news.
The Free Russia Foundation said in a statement that the project involves hundreds of activists – "media professionals, SMM" – who "work seven days a week" to convey the truth about what is happening in the war against Ukraine.
The Free Russia Foundation was established in Washington in 2014. One of its founders is Natalia Arno, a graduate of the Buryat State University's philology department. The foundation exists on donations, but does not disclose donors. Its budget is $2 million a year.