KRASNOYARSK, August 6. /TASS/. Propaganda facilities that engage in training Russians to carry out seditious activities in the country operate in Latvia, Estonia and Poland, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting with workers at the Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant on Friday.
"Information has become a weapon. A propaganda strategy center has been set up in Riga, similar centers have been established in Tallinn and Warsaw. Information weapons are created there that are particularly used against our country," Shoigu pointed out, adding that those centers also spread a lot of rumors.
"You will hardly be able to name a facility in Russia where experts receive training in conducting cyberattacks. We don’t train such experts. However, there are several centers in Europe that do provide this kind of training to our country’s citizens," Shoigu added.
The Russian defense minister explained that Western centers like those monitored the online information space, detecting those "who won’t write anything positive" and offering them grant-based jobs. "Dozens of such people are churned out every three months," Shoigu noted.
According to him, the Russian Defense Ministry paid special attention to the information agenda. In particular, the Krasnaya Zvezda (or Red Star) newspaper, the Zvezda (or Star) TV channel and the Zvezda radio station operate under the ministry.