Kremlin Bots Surge in Abkhazia After Operations in "LPR/DPR"

The "Botnadzor" project has detected significant activity by Kremlin bots in Abkhazian communities on VKontakte that were previously active in "LPR/DPR" and Russian federal media outlets, reports NewsBox.

In the past two weeks, there has been a surge in comments from suspicious accounts within Abkhazian VKontakte groups, previously noted in groups linked to "LPR/DPR" and federal Russian media. The "Botnadzor" project recorded 441 comments from these profiles, indicating a potential shift in their operational focus.

According to researchers, many of these accounts last showed activity in August 2024, and on January 21, there was a massive change of names. In the comments, the bots discussed Abkhazian political news, particularly the elections in the republic, and voiced support for one of the candidates.

The creator of the "Botnadzor" project noted that these same accounts were previously active in discussions within Donetsk and Luhansk groups and appeared in comments on federal Russian media. He suggested that the bot farm owners likely reached a tacit agreement with the social network's administration, as the number of bans sharply decreased while the accounts' activity jumped to thousands of comments, something previously deemed impossible.