An extensive social network promoting anti-Western and pro-Kremlin ideas is helping Russia expand its influence at France's expense in some of its former colonies in Africa. Referred to as the Russosphere (Russian Sphere), typical posts accuse France of modern "colonialism", praise Vladimir Putin and label the Ukrainian military as "Nazis" and "Satanists", reflecting the official Russian line.
They also praise Wagner's Russian mercenaries - they even pass on recruiting information if followers want to join. Experts say this disinformation is fueling distrust between African nations and the West and contributing to the continent's lack of support for Ukraine. Working with Logically, a tech organization that scours the internet, the BBC's Global Disinformation Team has tracked down the surprising figure behind it: a 65-year-old Belgian politician who describes himself as a Stalinist.
Defend Russia and thank Wagner
The Russosphere describes itself as “a Russian defence network”. Consisting of several social media groups on different platforms, it was founded in 2021 but fully launched in February 2022, days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The network quickly gained over 80,000 subscribers. After the invasion, Russian state media were restricted or blocked on all major social media platforms. Russosphere was inactive and soon became active on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, as well as Telegram and VK, the native Russian version of Facebook.
The discovery comes at a time when relations between France and several African countries are deteriorating rapidly, which analysts attribute in part to the influence of the Kremlin and growing pro-Russian sentiment fueled by propaganda.
Kyle Walter is Logical's director of #US investigations. Using data from its internal AI-powered platform coupled with open-source information, the company was able to logically trace the network back to a man named Luc Michel.
Michel has in the past worked to legitimize votes in Russian-held Ukrainian territories and has been linked to "Merci [merci] Wagner," a group supporting the work of Russian mercenaries. We contacted Mr Michel, who agreed to speak about the Russosphere.
He told us he created it, but said he received no financial backing from Russia and said it was funded with "private funds." He also assured us that he had no connection to Wagner and his boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. "I handle cyber warfare, media warfare... and Prigozhin conducts military operations," he said. According to Mr Walter, co-author of the Logics report, this campaign is the first time Mr. Michel's efforts have had a real impact. "Russosphere marks the first time that Luc Michel and his general influence operations have achieved significant success," he said.
"While the groups were initially supported by bots, they are now a truly organic influencer operation with a large percentage of real followers from across Africa."An admirer of Gaddafi and Putin Mr. Michel's first life story may seem unusual for a self-proclaimed friend of Africa.
Born in 1958, he was politically active from an early age, first in neo-fascist groups in his native Belgium, then as a supporter of Jean Thiriart, a former Nazi collaborator who envisioned a “Europe from Vladivostok to Dublin” against America. His career took him to Libya, where he supported the country's then-leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
He also visited Burundi as an advisor to President Pierre Nkurunziza. He has maintained constant contact with Russia, collaborating with the Kremlin's "Nashi" youth movement and founding a self-proclaimed "election monitoring group" that claimed Moscow's illegal referendums in Crimea, Donetsk and Lugansk in 2014 were "free and fair". ."I'm a Stalinist," he told the BBC. “I've been defending Russia since the 80s.
I think Russia is the only anti-American power in Europe. I miss the Soviet Union. I want a free world without America. From social media to the square is difficult to gauge the impact of specific disinformation campaigns. Still, a pro-Russian message is being heard in Africa, which analysts say is amplified by local influencers of Russian culture.“The success of men like Luc Michel is due to his opposition to France.
It appeals to real grievances on the ground,” said Kevin Limonier, a University of Paris-8 lecturer who studies Moscow's information operations in Africa.“Russian disinformation helped drive French forces out of the Sahel countries, particularly Burkina Faso,” according to Ulf Laessing of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a centre-right think tank in Germany. Since 2013, around 5,000 French soldiers have been deployed to fight jihadist groups in Mali, as well as in Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Mauritania.
But they withdrew from Mali last year and are preparing to leave Burkina Faso.was under pressure from both countries' military governments. Still, BBC Monitoring's Beverly Ochieng agrees that popular sentiment may have something to do with it.“Russian flags flew at protests in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad, partly due to pro-Russian intelligence operations,” he says. In Burkina Faso, demonstrators stormed the French embassy demanding closer ties between Ouagadougou and Moscow. This corresponds directly to Mr Michel's objectives.
"I think Russia needs to replace the French across Africa," he told the BBC.“It is almost impossible to estimate the impact of information operations,” says Limonier, a specialist in influence campaigns in the Kremlin. But one thing is certain: such operations worry the West. In Paris, according to M. Limonier, "diplomats and soldiers read it, see it and say 'Oh my God.""
Great news
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