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Did “Russian bot traffic” really disappear after Ukrainian strikes on Yandex servers?
(www.theverge.com)
this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2026
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You know, I don't believe there are so many Russian bots astroturfing the Internet. There are plenty of regular humans who truly believe Russia is doing nothing but defend itself, in "aggressive NATO expansion", and a whole generally anti-West attitude.
They hate America for being an imperialist power, which... Yeah. Absolutely. But then in the same breath state Russia isn't, and that they're nothing more than a victim of said Imperialism.
Consider this an anecdote, but I have family who says these things. Bots need not apply.
Honestly Russia might not need to bot anymore, but with a few bribed content creators and some incendiary alternative takes and a lot of bot accounts you can do a lot of damage.
The point isn't to astroturf the internet, it's to guide it in the right direction for people to harbor conspiratorial bullshit like that. It's like pushing a ball down a slope lightly, the gravity at some point adds way more force than you could have.