In response to the “wave of Russophobia” in the world due to the unjustified aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the Kremlin decided to demonstrate that it still has many backers ready to support cultural, social and political ties with Russia. For this purpose, the founding congress of the International Russophile Movement was held in Moscow in March of this year (the French version Mouvement International Russophile was chosen as a foreign translation, so that the abbreviation sounded like MIR), which was attended by foreign political fringes, populists and conspiracy theorists from 42 countries of the world. Many of these persons continue to carry out active pro-Russian activities in their countries, spreading blatant disinformation and imposing anti-Western narratives.
Last week, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, said that this movement planned to hold its first regular congress at the beginning of next year. In fact, it launched a new organization that openly promotes Russian imperial narratives and is designed to strengthen Russian influence over a significant number of countries. This organization will try to open its branches in all countries where the activities of organization is not contradict local legislation, and where this is impossible, it will focus on private initiatives of local residents, the head of the MIR, a citizen of Bulgaria, Nikolay Malinov, said.
While the International Russophile Movement declares its goal to advocate for a multipolar world that respects the traditions and sovereignty of all peoples and promotes global dialogue and cooperation, Russia (which promotes MIR) continues to wage a war of aggression against Ukraine.
This movement is financed by the sanctioned Russkiy Mir Foundation. The official organizers of its actions are the employees of the Russian House cultural center or people associated with it.
It is important that one of the representatives of the MIR is the citizen of Cyprus Mikis Filaniotis — a well-known pro-Russian activist, a member of the expert club at the Russian House in Cyprus. He constantly spreads Russian propaganda, speaks on behalf of the Cypriot community on Russian media. He visited occupied Crimea, where he publicly admired Putin and his war crimes.
According to the information of the propagandist Russian mass media, during Russia Day on June 11 in Cyprus, about 80 people allegedly joined the International Russophile Movement. The event was held with the participation of the representative office of Rossotrudnichestvo in Cyprus. This organization, which is associated with the activities of Russian special services, involves Russian compatriots living outside of Russia to recruit citizens of other countries from among supporters of the ideology of “Russkiy mir”, which allows it to collect intelligence and spread propaganda that glorifies Russia and discredits the West countries. Recall, that Rossotrudnichestvo is under the EU sanctions. Despite this, it continues to carry out its subversive activities in the Republic of Cyprus.
Pro-Russian events took place in Cyprus before. The official organizer of those actions in the country was the Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots (Russian: KSRSK), which is directly subordinated to and financed by Moscow. It is possible that the Russian special services will use this organization to popularize the International Russophile Movement in Cyprus. The representatives of the KSRSK in Cyprus are Dmitriy Apraksin, a professor at the University of Nicosia, Dmitriy Radzhabov, Nemsida Krupenidou, Mila Sharapova and others.
Thus, the Republic of Cyprus is the only country in the European Union where the Russian influence agency and the RF’s special services feel free and openly carry out destructive activities. Only in Cyprus the authorities continue to support pro-Russian propaganda activities that can negatively affect the country.
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