Anadolu Agency via Getty
Russia is reportedly sending in its own PR experts and deploying thousands of “activists” to prepare bogus referendums in occupied Ukrainian territories by Sept. 11.
Ukraine’s Security Service on Tuesday detailed the tactics it says Moscow is using to simulate local support for a plan to join Russia—and they apparently involve tacky T-shirts, scripted appeals, and free food for anyone willing to play along.
The campaign is reportedly being led by the pro-Russian group “Donetsk Republic,” which is now expanding beyond occupied Donetsk and calling itself “Big Russia,” according to the SBU.