DISINFO: Russia’s liberal and pro-Western opposition groups aim to destabilise Russia
SUMMARY
Russia's liberal and pro-Western groups, such as those headed by Navalny, Roman Dobrokhotov and other radical anti-state figures, are the West's fifth column. They aim to destabilise Russia and provoke its collapse in the interest of the West. But the West’s real resource to influence Russian politics is the sixth column, which is composed of the Russian élite with the exception of the siloviki and of genuine and convinced patriots. The fifth column and the sixth column share the same values, objectives and curators.
RESPONSE
This article repeats a narrative about the West’s allegedly belligerent and hostile agenda against Russia, about its alleged plans to destabilise and encircle Russia, and about Western support for “colour revolutions”.
There is no evidence to support the article’s claim that Russian opposition movements and leaders, as well as significant sectors of the Russian élite, work for and are directed by Western governments, and are used by the latter to destabilise Russia.
The idea that the West and its intelligence services use not only the Russian political opposition but also members of the Russian power élite as agents of influence has been theorised by Aleksandr Dugin, who created the concept of the “sixth column”. For Dugin, the sixth column, unlike the overt opposition figures of the fifth column, is firmly entrenched within the corridors of power.
The fifth column narrative is the basis for the repressive laws introduced in 2021 against the Russian independent media. Kremlin disinformation often targets political opponents and other critics claiming that they are Western intelligence assets. This narrative dates back to Soviet times and has been refurbished by the Kremlin, especially after 2012, when a law that branded foreign-funded NGOs as “foreign agents” was passed by the Russian Parliament. Critics argued that the term “foreign agent” implied spying for a foreign government and was aimed at harming the image of members of the opposition and human rights and environmental groups working in Russia.
One of the alleged “fifth column agents” mentioned in the article, political opposition figure Alexei Navalny, has been repeatedly accused by pro-Kremlin media of being a CIA or an MI6 agent. Recently, supporters of Navalny were not allowed to run in the Duma elections when in June 2021 a court declared “extremist” three organisations he founded, five days after Putin signed a law barring people with ties to groups deemed “extremist” from running for public office.
In October 2021, the Russian authorities announced that Roman Dobrokhotov, an investigative journalist, founder and editor-in-chief of The Insider website, was put on a wanted list by the FSB. The Insider specialises in investigative journalism and partnered with Bellingcat in the high-profile independent investigation into the 2020 poisoning of Alexei Navalny.
Read similar cases claiming that the West uses Russian protest movements as a fifth column to destabilise Russia, that the West is waging a hybrid war against Russia using NGO’s and activists, and that Navalny is a member of a Western-backed fifth column acting inside Russia.