Argentina announced that it had uncovered a group of Russian spies who were threatening the country with suspicious activities in the name of Moscow's interests, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a statement by Argentine presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni, BTA reported.
Argentine intelligence services have identified an organization called “The Company“, suspected of being linked to the Russian government and an operation to spread Russian disinformation aimed at influencing political opinions in Argentinean but also European territory.
According to Adorni, a Russian citizen named Lev Konstantinovich Andriashvili led this organization with his wife, his compatriot Irina Yakovenko. The two received funding for the purpose and were supposed to create a network of Russian collaborators.
The goal of the organization was to establish a group of individuals loyal to Russian interests to develop disinformation campaigns against the Argentine state, said the spokesman for the Argentine presidency. “Argentina will not leave itself to the influence of another country,“ he stressed.
Among the activities identified by the organization were the creation and distribution of content on social networks, influencing local civil and non-governmental organizations, the development of discussion groups with the participation of Argentine citizens, as well as obtaining political information to be transmitted to Russia.