Are Ukrainian strikes on Russian data centres silencing Kremlin bots?
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Original source:bbc.co.uk
Key Takeaways
- No evidence links Yandex data centre strikes to a drop in Russian disinformation.
- Cloudflare data showing reduced traffic refers to automated web indexing, not social media bots.
- Researchers confirm that known Kremlin-linked influence groups remain fully operational.
- The strikes primarily caused widespread internet service disruptions for global Yandex users.
Recent Ukrainian military strikes against Yandex data centres have sparked widespread speculation regarding their impact on Russian disinformation networks. While President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested a decrease in online hostility and bot-driven content, experts argue that the evidence does not support a direct link between these physical attacks and the reduction of Kremlin-linked influence operations.
Analysis indicates that the decline in traffic observed in Cloudflare data likely reflects a reduction in automated web-crawling tasks rather than a collapse of social media bot networks. Researchers confirm that known Russian influence clusters remain active, suggesting that the infrastructure damage primarily disrupted general internet services rather than silencing state-sponsored propaganda.
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