Argentina National Intelligence Service (SIDE) has uncovered a group of Russians who were creating a local influence network to promote Moscowʼs interests. They were spreading disinformation, manipulating public opinion, and trying to influence internal processes in Argentina.
This is reported by the Argentine newspaper La Derecha Diario.
Among other things, group members created and distributed content on social media, and also tried to influence the work of local public organizations, foundations, and non-governmental structures.
According to Argentine intelligence, the scheme involved a Russian citizen Lev Andriashvili, lives in Argentina. He was responsible for financing the network and establishing contacts with local activists. His accomplice was his wife Irina Yakovenko also a Russian citizen and resident of Argentina.
Both were responsible for receiving direct funds from Moscow and for developing ties with pro-Russian agents and organizations in Argentina.
During the investigation, investigators came across the La Compañía organization, to which Andriashvili and Yakovenko are involved. According to La Derecha Diario, it is related to the “Lakhta” project, a multi-component operation aimed at audiences in the United States, the European Union, and Ukraine. It was financed by the founder of the Russian PMC “Wagner” and businessman Yevgenyi Prigozhin, who died in August 2023.
“The goal of La Compañía was to form a group of individuals committed to Russian interests,” said the spokesman for the Argentine president Manuel Adorni.
SIDE emphasised that these actions not only violate the countryʼs sovereignty, but also expose Argentine society to external influence that deliberately distorts public debate and democratic processes. The investigation is ongoing.
- In recent years, Russia has been expanding its network in South America. The American newspaper The New York Times wrote that Russian intelligence services have turned Brazil into an “incubator” for training their agents. Russian foreign intelligence officers received genuine Brazilian documents and lived undercover, posing as ordinary citizens. According to the publication, many of them were later sent to the United States, Europe and the Middle East.
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