What we know about “Portal Kombat”, the network of pro-Russian disinformation sites denounced by France

Viginum, the service responsible for foreign digital interference, has identified nearly 200 sites massively relaying misleading content, designed to legitimize the invasion of Ukraine and influence support for kyiv, including France.

Of the “hostile informational maneuvers” that “France strongly condemns”. As the war in Ukraine soon enters its third year, and numerous elections will mobilize public opinion across the world, the French organization fighting against foreign digital interference Viginum revealed, Monday February 12, the existence about 200 “information portals” used to disseminate pro-Russian propaganda aimed at kyiv’s supporters in Europe. Here is what we know about this network nicknamed “Portal Kombat”.

Three “ecosystems” of propaganda sites

After four months of work, Viginum uncovered a network “structured and coordinated” at least 193 news portals “with similar characteristics, which broadcast pro-Russian content to an international audience”, in Europe and the United States. In his technical report (PDF)the French organization fighting against digital interference distinguishes three groups that appeared at different periods.

The largest part (147) belongs to the“historical ecosystem”. This set of sites created since 2013 primarily targeted “Russian and Ukrainian audiences”with domain names containing the names of localities in both countries. “Several of these sites, particularly those targeting Ukraine, are now inactive or offline”notes Viginum.

The “-news.ru” ecosystem brings together 41 “Landmarks” created between April and December 2022, and aimed at Russian-speaking audiences in Ukraine. “Certain sites target very specific and strategic localities such as Kherson or Mariupol”specifies the report.

Founded in June 2023, the most recent sites belong to “the Pravda ecosystem”, a Russian word meaning “truth”, which refers to the name of the former daily newspaper of the Soviet Communist Party. Five in number, they aim directly “several Western countries which have publicly shown their support for Ukraine” : France (with pravda-fr.com), Germany, Austria and Switzerland (pravda-de.com), Poland (pravda-pl.com), Spain (pravda-es.com) , the United Kingdom and the United States (pravda-en.com).

Viginum estimates “with a high degree of confidence” that these three groups “belong to the same digital infrastructure”. The network was nicknamed “Portal Kombat”, “with reference to [sa] offensive information strategy” and the famous video game series Mortal Kombat.

Massive, automated and targeted publications

The objective of the network is to “cover the Russian-Ukrainian conflict by presenting positively ‘special military operation’ [le nom donné par la Russie à l’invasion] and by denigrating Ukraine and its leaders”, says Viginum. To do this, the sites publish content “very ideologically oriented [qui] expose narratives that are manifestly inaccurate or misleading”.

For example, a fake list of 13 “mercenaries” French who “were in Kharkiv” at the time of a Russian strike on the city, according to pravda-fr.com. Or titled content “‘That’s enough !’ : France calls for radical measures against Zelensky”comments in fact made by Florian Philippot, a former far-right MP accustomed to conspiracy theories and whose statements do not commit Paris.

To maximize their influence, these sites publish in a massive and automated manner: the Pravda system published more than 152,000 articles in less than three months (between June 23 and September 19), according to Viginum. No original content there, but covers of texts mainly taken from “social media accounts of Russian or pro-Russian actors, Russian news agencies and official sites of local institutions or actors”.

These sites also cover other themes “close to French-speaking conspiracy circles”to discredit “political speech, the media” or international institutions, specifies Viginum. With this in mind, they can seize other news far from Ukraine: pravda-fr has published a lot of content “denigrating the French presence in the Sahel or promoting increased cooperation between Russia and the African continent”details the organization.

Ecosystem sites “historical” take up content for their part “relatively little
politicized, even harmless”, but those who target Russian cities “de facto propagate political content which extols, among other things, the merits of the ‘special military operation'”. On the other hand, the “-news.ru” sites created since the invasion of Ukraine were designed from the start as “real ‘sounding boxes'” Russian propaganda, trying to“to amplify the resentment of local Russian populations against the Ukrainian authorities and to inform about ongoing military operations”.

Effects in principle limited in France

“Despite an elaborate system, the consequences in France remained moderate”explains Viginum to Figaro. The audiences of Pravda network sites appear low compared to the number of content published: pravda-fr recorded only 10,700 visits in November 2023, less than the Polish (17,600), German (34,400), English (36) versions. 700) and Spanish (55,000).

This limited audience should not be taken lightly, however, emphasizes Viginum. “Given its technical characteristics, the processes implemented as well as the objectives pursued, this network constitutes foreign digital interference”concludes the technical report.

No specific actor or sponsor is designated as responsible for the interference operation, neither in the Viginum report nor in the official declarations from Paris, Berlin or Warsaw. A usual caution for Paris, given the technical and diplomatic difficulties in attributing such actions to a particular group. However, this structure is presented as a “russian network” in the press release from the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.