Maria Zakharova

April 9, 2025 | |

‘This is Where the Negotiations Can End’: Iran Signals Opposition to Dismantling Nuclear and Missile Programs

No ‘Libya-Style’ Agreement: An April 9 editorial in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Javan newspaper stated that Iran would immediately end negotiations with...

January 22, 2025 | Max Lesser, Mason Krusch

Russia Exploits LA Fires to Sow Discord and Promote False Claims 

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, leveled the false claim that U.S. prison inmates were being used as forced labor to fight the Los Angeles wildfires. Her comments were part...

September 3, 2024 | Ivana Stradner, Jason Jay Smart

Durov’s Arrest Is About Telegram as Russian Weapon, Not Free Speech

So-called free speech activists have jumped to defend Pavel Durov after his arrest, but they conveniently forget Russia’s weaponization of his Telegram platform.

July 23, 2024 | Ivana Stradner, Jason Jay Smart

Russia and Trump: Polluting the Information Space

Russian propagandists’ goal in their accounts of the assassination attempt on Trump is not to offer a single narrative, but rather to muddy the waters so Americans come to doubt everything.

February 26, 2024 | |

Russia to Host Palestinian Unity Talks

The Russian government will welcome multiple Palestinian factions to Moscow from February 29 through March 2 for “inter-Palestinian talks” about resolving the Gaza war. Russian...

November 21, 2023 | Ivana Stradner, Spencer Finley

The CSTO: With Friends Like the Kremlin, Who Needs Enemies?

Armenia’s snubbing of the latest Moscow-led summit may be the first indication that Russia’s allies are beginning to realize that the glue that binds is past its sell-by date.

November 6, 2023 | Ivana Stradner, Jason Jay Smart

Antisemitism, Russian Disinformation and the West

As Russia falsely accuses the West and Ukraine of inciting antisemitic violence on Russian territory, perhaps it’s time for the West to use its own information operations to set the record straight.

September 22, 2023 | Ivana Stradner |

Russia failed to weaken NATO — but its own security alliance is now falling apart

Vladimir Putin has been candid about his intentions to dismantle NATO and discredit Article 5 of the alliance’s founding treaty, in which members pledge to defend each other from...

May 6, 2023 | Ivana Stradner |

Moscow Proxies Stand for Regional Election in Moldova

Russian efforts to increase its influence within Moldova may take another step forward in a forthcoming regional election.

May 3, 2023 | Ivana Stradner |

Washington Needs to Fight Russia’s Information War Using This Tactic

The US should turn Moscow’s 'reflexive control' tactic against the Kremlin: Instead of selling the American Dream, Washington should show Russians 'the Russian dream.'

March 22, 2023 | Ivana Stradner |

The ‘Yugoslavia Scenario’: How Russia Intends to Use an Anniversary in Its Ongoing Information War

The Kremlin has used NATO’s 1999 intervention to justify Russia’s continual assaults on Ukraine, and won’t miss the upcoming opportunity to exploit this further.

December 24, 2022 | Ivana Stradner |

The Real Architects of “Russophobia”

How Russia continues to use the idea of "Russophobia" as a political weapon.

September 15, 2022 | Tanya Domi, Ivana Stradner

Serbia’s Move to Cancel EuroPride Shows How Vučić Plays Off West Against Russia and His Base

The Serbian government is moving to cancel a long-planned parade in Belgrade this Saturday as part of the annual pan-European EuroPride celebration, hosted in a different European city each year, after...

August 30, 2022 | Ivana Stradner |

Russia Continues Meddling in the Balkans

On August 26, Serbia and Kosovo signed an agreement settling a dispute over the movement of citizens across their borders after more than a month of high tensions. Josep Borrell, European Union (EU) foreign...

June 29, 2022 | James Brooke, Ivana Stradner

It’s Time for NATO to Help the Baltics

Russian hackers have launched cyberattacks against Lithuania for its enforcement of EU sanctions against Kaliningrad.

February 26, 2022 | James Brooke |

With Russian invasion of Ukraine, a page just turned in Europe’s history book

In the future, we will remember Feb. 24 alongside 9/11 and Dec. 7. Although Russia’s invasion is not a bolt from the blue like Pearl Harbor or the attack on the World Trade Center, many people did not...

January 4, 2017 | Thomas Joscelyn |

Russia’s New Favorite Jihadis: The Taliban

More than 15 years into America’s war in Afghanistan, the Russian government is openly advocating on behalf of the Taliban. Last week, Moscow hosted Chinese and Pakistani e...