The National Intelligence Service of Argentina (SIDE) has discovered a group of Russians engaged in creating a network of influence in favour of Moscow. This was announced by a representative of the presidential administration, Manuel Adorni.
According to him, we are talking about targeted actions to form “a group of citizens loyal to the interests of Russia”. The main task of the cell was disinformation campaigns and attempts to influence the internal processes in the country, reports the publication La derecha Diario.
Among other things, members of the group created and distributed content on social networks, as well as tried to influence the work of local public organisations, foundations and non-governmental structures.
According to Argentine intelligence services, Lev Andriashvili, a Russian citizen living in Argentina, was involved in the scheme. He was responsible for financing the network and establishing contacts with local activists. His associate was his wife Irina Yakovenko, also a Russian citizen and resident of Argentina.
The investigation revealed the existence of an organisation that Andriashvili and Yakovenko were involved with, called “Kompaniya”. It is allegedly linked to the Lakhta project, which was headed by Russian businessman and founder of PMC Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in August 2023.
Adorni declined to comment on whether the suspects had been detained, citing the classified nature of some of the information.
Russia has been regularly cited in recent years as building up its network in South America.
In May, The New York Times reported that Russian intelligence services had turned Brazil into an “incubator” for training illegal agents. According to the newspaper, many of them were subsequently sent to the United States, Europe and the Middle East.