Russian Disinformation Ecosystem Chart: Featuring Global Research, Natural News and Others

by James A. Fulk (republished from Substack 6.28.2024)

Note: This is a working article, and it will receive future updates. Last Updated ~~6.28.2024~~, 6.30.2024

Months ago I decided to create a chart to map out over a dozen websites linked to Russian disinformation and track a few dozen authors associated with the websites to see how much overlap there was. For example, if someone was being featured on InfoWars, I wanted to see if that same person appeared on RT or Zerohedge or Unz Review, etc. I am republishing the chart and its source links here along with some commentary on the relationships between Global Research, Natural News, SCF and SouthFront. Hopefully this will prove useful for people trying to understand Russian information warfare with respect to how disinformation is distributed to English speakers by Russian special services.

Global Research is a website founded by Michel Chossudovsky out of Canada. Michel’s father, Evgeny, was a Soviet Citizen and U.S.S.R. aid to the United Nations.¹The New York Times in 1972 reported on Evgeny stating:²

With President Nixon’s visit to Moscow now only two months away, an unusually thoughtful and candid proposal for sweeping East‐West cooperation has just been published in this country by a loyal Soviet citizen who is also a high‐ranking United Nations official…The author, Evgeny Chossudovsky of the U.N. Secretariat, cautions in prefatory note that his views are not necessarily those of the Secretariat. It is not unreasonable, however, to suspect that he does speak for the Kremlin and that his article is intended to be read here as a major statement of Soviet policy, though unofficial…Mr. Cossudovsky wants a United Nations Decade of Peaceful Coexistence, a new Treaty Organization for European Security and Cooperation which would embrace all Europe, and comprehensive bilateral and multilateral cooperation in everything from production and trade to protection of health and environment and ‘strengthening of common cultural values.’ He is also for ‘promoting, on an increasing scale, related movements of persons, for… human contacts represent an essential ingredient of the coexistence process’…He underlines that he is for peaceful coexistence without illusions, and in effect warns the West that by adopting his program it runs the chance of presiding at its own funeral…But Mr. Chossudovsky is sufficiently sensitive to the feelings of his capitalist readers to assure them that he thinks the revolution ‘should be as orderly as feasible and the socialization of the means of production should provide for suitable compensation to its former owners.’

Evgeny’s Son Michel appears to have the same communist allegiance as is father. He has personally visited the now deceased former communist leader of Cuba Fidel Castro,³and Fidel wrote favorably about Michel.⁴Michel is also featured on Cuba’s CubaDebate.cu which was presented to the Cuban public in 2003 by Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada who at the time was President of Cuban parliament which was and still is a one party system (Communist Party of Cuba).⁵‘⁶

In August of 2020, Michel and his website were listed in a U.S. Department of State report on Russia’s disinformation ecosystem which linked Russia’s intelligence services to a number of websites. Strategic Culture Foundation (SCF) was one of those websites identified in the report that Michel had a relationship with. The State Department said of SCF that:⁷

The Strategic Culture Foundation is an online journal registered in Russia, directed by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), and closely affiliated with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The outlet plays a central role among a group of linked websites that proliferate Russian disinformation and propaganda…International Affairs, the flagship journal of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1922, states on its website that SCF is its partner…SCF was founded in 2005. Originally it only published its journal in Russian…SCF’s president is Yuri Prokofiev, who was Moscow Party Chief from 1989 to 1991 and a Soviet Politburo Member…Prokofiev is also one of the founders of the “Russian Organization for Assistance to Special Services…”

That report went on to state that Global Research was a source of talent for SCF, because it was developing a large talent pool of authors that other websites could draw from. In the chart above, I show that Mike Adam’s Natural News website draws from that pool.

Global Research is partner to Russian Foreign Intelligence Service tasked Strategic Culture Foundation.

Communist run and Russian Foreign Intelligence tasked Strategic Culture Foundation Information warfare.

Another website mentioned in the State Department report was SouthFront which was identified in a separate report by the U.S. Treasury as being tasked by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).⁸SouthFront was originally registered in 2015 under Reg.ru in Moscow and developed an official partnership (just like SCF did) with Global Research in May 2015.⁹‘¹⁰In addition to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Active Measures Department (SVR MS) and FSB tasked orgs, Global Research also republished articles from the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Russian Foreign Military Intelligence/GRU).¹¹

Global Research is partnered with Russian Federal Security Service tasked SouthFront.

Michel has connections to people linked with Aleksandr Dugin. For example, he is on the scientific committee for the Italian Journal Geopolitica whose former director was Tiberio Graziani.¹²Graziani is listed on the supreme council of Aleksandr Dugin’s International Eurasian Movement which calls for the integration of post-soviet spaces and a multi-polar world,¹³and he was an editor of the Eurasia Journal of Geopolitical Studies where Dugin’s other associate Claudio Mutti is the director.¹⁴Eurasia is listed as a partner to SCF as displayed on the SCF author page.¹⁵Dugin is listed as an author on Michel’s website,¹⁶and Michel is listed as an author on Dugin’s website.¹⁷

Russian Information Warfare at the academic level.

Aleksandr Dugin on crypto-communist Global Research

Crypto-communist Michael Chossudovsky on Aleksandr Dugin's website

Given all these connections that Michel has with communists, Russian intelligence, and individuals associated with high level Kremlin asset Aleksandr Dugin, it is concerning Mike Adams, someone that bills himself as a Texas patriot, would associate with Michel and Global Research.

Strategic Culture Foundation was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury on April 15, 2021 along with SouthFront. Despite these sanctions, Natural News has continued to feature SVR tasked SCF articles on its website as late as 2024.¹⁸Moreover, Mike Adams not only publishes SCF authors but content direct from the editorial staff of SCF which is anonymous for anyone reading the articles.¹⁹A search of Mike’s website also reveals multiple recent SouthFront content posted by his authors.²⁰

Russian Federal Security service tasked SouthFront Featured on Mike Adams's Natural News

Russian Foreign Intelligence service tasked Strategic Culture Foundation Featured on Mike Adams's Natural News

I think it is important to note that the purpose of the Treasury sanctions are to punish actors that are hostile to the interests of the United States and yet Mike Adams continues to promote them despite acknowledging on his website that he is aware of the sanctions. It is traitorous activity especially, because he is aiding in Russia’s special services information warfare against U.S. citizens. No true patriot would ever side against his own country in favor of foreign intelligence and promote an organization’s content whose president was a Soviet Politburo member and communist.

Mike Adams and Natural News along with Michael Chossudovsky and Global Research are part of a Russian intelligence disinformation ecosystem.

Notes on Alex Jones and InfoWars

I’ve already, almost exhaustively, covered the link between InfoWars and communist Russian operations; however, I’ll add a few pertinent notes here. Like Mike Adams and Natural News, Infowars has also promoted SCF content.²¹Both former employees of InfoWars Paul and Steve Watson were briefly featured authors on SCF and they are also on Global Research, and Paul had one article on Dugin’s website.²²‘²³‘²⁴Other SCF authors that get promoted on InfoWars are Matthew Ehret and his wife Cynthia Chung (see images below). Jay Dyer, 4th hour host of InfoWars, is an associate of Dugin,²⁵ and is also featured on Global Research.²⁶

Russian Disinformation Ecosystem Chart: Featuring Global Research, Natural News and Others

Links for the Russian Information Warfare Ecosystem Chart (article citations are found below this section):

Strategic Culture Writers

GRU Writers

*Other Writers*

Russian Federal Security Service Tasked SouthFront Material on NaturalNews.com

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