Global Courant
STORY: Russian news outlets report that a social media “troll factory” owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian mercenary leader, allegedly influencing public opinion in the United States and other countries, has been disbanded after the stunning mutiny by Prigozhin and his Wagner Group fighters in Russia last month.
The Kommersant – a Russian newspaper – also reports that the government’s communications watchdog is blocking media outlets linked to Prigozhin, without elaborating further.
On Saturday, Reuters cameras spotted Wagner logos being removed from its St. Petersburg headquarters.
The building was raided by authorities during the mutiny. It was only opened last year and was named military technology center.
The US government and the European Union have long accused Prigozhin of funding an organization known as the Internet Research Agency, which Washington says is a troll farm that attempted to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
Prigozhin himself has previously admitted that he interfered in the US election and that he founded and funded the organization, although the Kremlin has always denied any interference.
Separately, according to the director of one of the news sites, a media holding company owned by Prigozhin was closed under his umbrella. It gave no reason for the move.
The group, called Patriot Media, had a strong nationalist and pro-Kremlin stance that also generated positive coverage of Prigozhin and his mercenaries.
