Alexander Malkevich was reportedly in Tbilisi the day before the parliamentary election on October 26. Reporters Without Borders, an international media watchdog, was among those to break the news. The organization noted that it “is alarmed by this Kremlin relay’s role in the proliferation Russian disinformation in Georgia.”
Markian Kuzmowycz is a digital threat expert who wrote on his X profile on October 30 that Alexander Malkevich was in Tbilisi since several days. Malkevich had been sanctioned by the US for meddling with US elections, and was responsible for a large part of RU propaganda within occupied Ukraine.
Malkevich was a close friend of Yevgeny Prgozhin, the notorious Wagner Group leader and media manager from St. Petersburg who has been sanctioned for his illegal propaganda by several countries including Ukraine and the U.S.
The RSF’s investigative report on Malkevich states that Malkevich has “major resources at his disposal.” He “has been able, with the help of an influx in personnel, mainly from his native Saint Petersburg,” to channel funds to media outlets in the occupied Ukrainian Donbass.
RSF shows Malkevich’s system in detail, stating that he has a lot of resources at his disposal. The investigation shows “he was able to channel money and personnel, mostly from St. Petersburg, towards media in the occupied Ukrainian Donbass.”
RSF reported that its sources in the Ukrainian-occupied territories confirmed the launch several channels following the arrival of Malkevich. “He has taken charge of local radio and television propaganda,” they said. Malkevich had taken control of broadcasting for the Ukrainian regions Mariupol Kherson Melitopol since 2022, marking a new phase of the war “Putin’s chef” is waging on the West.
Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian investigative journalist/analyst, said in an interview with the Lithuanian news outlet Delfi before the October 26th elections that Russian intelligence leaks showed Putin wanted to rig Georgia’s election results and bloodshed would follow. According to him, “recently leaks intelligence from European services” (published by Bloomberg), revealed that Russian intelligence services had hacked and penetrated the key strategic IT infrastructure for the Georgian government including the central electoral committee.
The opposition parties have condemned the results of the elections on October 26, which, according to election monitors, were marred with widespread violations that affected the outcome. Zurabishvili, the president of Georgia, rejected the election results on October 27, saying: “We were both witnesses and victims of an operation by Russia that was a hybrid warfare against our people.”
Russia has been implicated in the interference of various countries in the electoral process, including the 2020 U.S. election. Evidence indicates that Russia interfered heavily in the recent presidential election in Moldova.
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