Leaked internal documents have exposed the activities of the Russia state-backed Fund for Support and Protection of the Rights of Compatriots Living Abroad (Pravfond), which European intelligence agencies and analysts claim is a Kremlin influence operation active in 48 countries.
Extensive Influence Activities Uncovered
The documents indicate that Pravfond finances propaganda websites aimed at Europeans supports the legal defence of convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout and assassin Vadim Krasikov and employs former intelligence officers to direct its operations in European countries. Pravfond has spent millions of euros on propaganda and legal campaigns, with its local partners receiving state subsidies from European countries, raising concerns about public funds and national security.
Documents obtained by Danish public broadcaster DR and shared with a consortium of European journalists, including the Guardian, reveal that Pravfond’s leadership includes former intelligence agents such as Vladimir Pozdorovkin and Anatoly Sorokin. Sergey Panteleyev, head of the Institute of the Russian Diaspora, which implements Pravfond’s projects, is sanctioned in the EU for his role in Russian military intelligence.
Andrei Soldatov, an expert on Russian intelligence, described Pravfond as a “classic soft-power effort,” highlighting the documented ties between intelligence and compatriot organizations. He noted that Andrey Milyutin, deputy head of the FSB’s Department of Operative Information, is involved in the government’s committee on “compatriots living abroad.”
A 2020 Estonian security report labelled Pravfond a “pseudo-legal protection system” used by the FSB to recruit collaborators, including supporters of the 2014 annexation of Crimea. Pravfond, founded in 2012 by presidential decree and backed by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is considered a “unique element of Russian soft power” by its head, Alexander Udaltsov, who is sanctioned by the EU for actions undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Pravfond has not responded to inquiries, but documents show it funded the legal defence of Krasikov and Bout and supported websites promoting “Russophobia” and the “defence of the Russian language” in Europe. Pravfond also funds Golos.eu, a portal criticizing the Ukrainian government, and Euromore, a site focusing on threats to Russians in Europe, designed as an alternative to blacklisted platforms like RT and Sputnik.
Pravfond’s activities have raised significant concerns about its influence operations and the use of public funds in Europe, especially ahead of the European Parliament elections.
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