Russia is training African journalists to spread its propaganda, according to Le Monde.
African publications “African Initiative” and “Agence de presse,” which are operated by Russian intelligence services since July, are training 60 so-called journalists from Mali to promote Moscow's interests on the continent. This is reported by the French publication Le Monde, as noted by UNN.
Details
This publication and several of its partners in other countries have released an article about a so-called “journalist school” in Mali's capital, Bamako. According to the publication, this institution trains personnel for an information agency established by Russian intelligence, which disseminates pro-Russian propaganda.
The material states that lectures in “elegant French” were conducted by the head of the French editorial office of the agency, Mikhail Pozdnyakov. He promoted the idea that the internet is a battleground for geopolitical confrontation and advised his students to come up with headlines like: “Macron, go away: the results of Lavrov and Evkurov's visit to French Africa,” Le Monde reports.
The school had 60 students, with promises of employment at the Africa Initiative agency for the best among them. The selection of students involved Malian journalist and influencer Robert Dissa, known for his pro-Russian publications. He was organized a trip to Moscow and then to the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Pozdnyakov confirmed this detail to Le Monde, referring to it as a “press visit to liberated territories.”
It is noted that Africa Initiative has offices in three Sahel countries, where pro-Russian military regimes are in power.