The development of artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally transforming the global information sphere. The most obvious consequence of AI tools’ popularization is the accelerated dynamics of information flows.
However, this trend has a dark side. AI creates additional opportunities for spreading manipulations and disinformation, the refutation of which becomes more difficult in proportion to the progress of synthetic intelligence learning. Malicious actors use AI for the global “export” of distorted interpretations and false narratives.
Today, the issue of AI usage by authoritarian regimes, their allies, and terrorist groups for destabilizing democratic countries is acute. As stated in Microsoft’s annual cyber threat report (covering the period from July 2023 to June 2024), Russia, Iran, and China are increasingly using AI-generated content to achieve greater productivity, efficiency, and audience engagement.
The Hybrid Warfare Analytical Group has analyzed Russia’s use of AI for conducting disinformation campaigns. This article also explores the Kremlin’s strategic ambitions to create a “sovereign AI” and the challenges this poses to international information security.
Expanding Russian Propaganda Capabilities Through AI
Russia consistently uses AI’s potential for disinformation campaigns. Most of these are aimed at Ukraine (as a conventional enemy) and NATO countries (strategic rivalry). According to most research on Russian cyber propaganda, the Kremlin applies AI to generate texts, deepfakes, and images, as well as to mass-produce comments and responses.
For over a decade, Russian bot farms have been crucial in promoting Moscow’s favorable narratives abroad. With the advent of AI, bot networks have developed in a rapid way, granting the Kremlin unprecedented advantages in disinformation campaigns. For instance, the primary resource for Kremlin international propaganda, RT (Russia Today), scales its activities through AI-managed bot farms. Collaborating closely with Russian intelligence services, these bot farms generate and distribute pro-Putin regime messages via social networks. This issue was outlined in a joint statement by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. National Cybersecurity Mission, and specialized agencies from the Netherlands and Canada (July 2024). The document stated that “RT affiliates used Meliorator – a hidden software package enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI) – to create fictitious online users of various ‘nationalities’ to publish content via the X social network. Using this tool, bots affiliated with RT spread disinformation about multiple countries, including the United States, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Ukraine, and Israel.”
Source: cfr.org
RT remains under constant surveillance by Western governments and security services. However, it is important to note that the accessibility of AI tools allows Russian propagandists to disseminate pro-Russian fake content without relying directly on RT. In practice, AI could soon autonomously manage bot networks, bypassing detection and counter-disinformation efforts.
The popularization of AI-based language models also threatens the information hygiene of Western countries. According to a study by NewsGuard, even leading chatbots (ChatGPT-4, Smart Assistant, Grok, Inflection, Mistral, Copilot, Meta AI, Claude, Google Gemini, and Perplexity) are vulnerable to narratives embedded in the global network by Russian pro-government resources. In approximately one-third of cases, responses were based on fake news sites with signs of manipulation and disinformation. With the emergence of Chinese-origin chatbots, the issue of “contaminating” language models with Russian propaganda has become even more urgent.
Thus, thanks to chatbot advancements, Russian propaganda has gained an additional channel for influencing audiences in various regions.
Russia’s “Sovereign AI” Path
The Kremlin prioritizes developing an autonomous AI ecosystem, which President Putin characterized as “sovereign artificial intelligence” at the latest Valdai Club meeting. This oxymoron, like the concept of “sovereign democracy,” is a product of the Kremlin dictator’s twilight consciousness, whose hallmark is the desire to control all socially significant technologies and package them within the framework of ideological rivalry with the West.
This logic is reflected in Russia’s “National Strategy for AI Development until 2030.” The document defines one of the AI policy goals as “ensuring the necessary level of independence of the Russian Federation in the field of artificial intelligence, including through the predominant use of domestic AI technologies and solutions.”
Russia is developing chatbots analogous to OpenAI products. For example, “GigaChat,” funded by Sberbank, and the “YandexGPT” language model by Yandex demonstrate Russia’s attempts to compete with the U.S. and China in the AI race.
According to the Kremlin, this approach reduces the risk of Western intelligence agencies gaining access to the personal data of Russians. It is also in the regime’s interest to ensure that large language models are under the dome of state censorship.
The Kremlin’s caution regarding AI stems from fear that symmetrical hybrid influence tactics could be used against Russia. Publications by Russian think tanks often highlight concerns about using AI to “destabilize internal political processes” for regime change. For example, experts from the Center for International Information Security and Scientific-Technological Policy at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations identify several Western AI-related objectives against Russia, including: (1) altering cognitive processes within public consciousness, (2) fostering biases or reflexive thinking regarding government actions, and (3) negatively influencing individual and collective decision-making processes.
Interpreting AI as a potential vulnerability due to a lack of control, the Kremlin is building an institutional framework for centralized AI-management. At the state level, integrating AI technologies across various sectors – including the economy, research institutions, business, and the public sector – is overseen by Russia’s National Center for AI Development. AI applications in the military are managed by a specialized department of the Russian Ministry of Defense, established shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
An Expensive Endeavor
Despite enormous war expenditures, Russia is not reducing its investments in AI development. This year, the federal project “Artificial Intelligence,” which supports Russian AI developments for the digitalization of various economic and social sectors, will receive 7.7 billion rubles. Total budget allocations for this project from 2025 to 2027 will amount to approximately 26.49 billion rubles.
During the previous 2021–2024 planning period, Russia allocated 31.5 billion rubles to the AI project (27.4 billion from the federal budget). Over the next three years, Russia also plans to direct about 9.6 billion rubles to support AI research centers and spend 4.2 billion rubles on training AI students at the Analytical Center under the Russian Government.
According to Russia’s “National AI Development Strategy until 2030,” 15,500 AI specialists should graduate over the next five years (compared to about 3,500 as of 2025). Additionally, more than a thousand AI developers in Russia are currently funded from the federal budget.
Meanwhile, Russia continues AI developments for military and information warfare purposes. Most of these expenditures remain hidden from the public. However, the general trend is increasing spending for AI development, which contrasts sharply with cuts to other scientific projects.
The contract is estimated at $300 million
Despite its ambitions, Russia’s attempt to lead in the global AI race is unrealistic given its economic constraints. Russia lacks the technological capacity to compete with industry leaders. Moreover, sanctions make it increasingly difficult for Russia to catch up in computational power for AI projects. Gray market exports only partially meet Russia’s needs, while China and India are uninterested in making Russia an AI competitor.
Russia’s financial investments in AI lag far behind global standards. For comparison, the U.S. President Donald Trump’s AI initiative Stargate aims to raise $500 billion, and French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced €109 billion in AI investments. Meanwhile, U.S. IT giants (Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta) plan record AI investments of $320 billion this year. Against this backdrop, Russia’s AI budgets are meager.
However, Russia’s technological lag should not mislead when assessing its AI use for information warfare.
AI-driven disinformation is evolving faster than tools for its neutralization. Autocracies aim to use this trend to enhance their influence campaigns. Russia, despite economic difficulties, continues pursuing ambitious AI development goals. While lagging in AI innovation, the Kremlin leverages synthetic intelligence for propaganda purposes.
AI usage in cognitive warfare against the West highlights the need to develop robust mechanisms for identifying, filtering, and labeling AI-generated content. Preventing the exploitation of vulnerabilities in democratic information ecosystems is a shared responsibility of the Western community.
By Volodymyr Solovian
The article is based on the analytical paper “The new Face of Deception: AI’s Role in the Kremlin’s Information Warfare” (Authors: Volodymyr Solovian, Matt Wickham)