a new environment for reaching a diplomatic solution . It could also be the move that finally checked Putin ’s aggression in the region and elsewhere . Israel on the sidelines
The agency has been widely reported in Russian media to be the brainchild of Evgeny Prigozhin , an oligarch and ally of Vladimir Putin . At the time , it employed hundreds of Russians in a nondescript office building in St. Petersburg , where they produced blog posts , comments , infographics , and viral videos that pushed the Kremlin ’s narrative on both the Russian and English Internet . The agency is what is known in Russia as a “ troll farm , ” a nickname given to outfits that operate armies of sock - puppet social - media accounts , in order to createmanufacture.artifact.nathe illusion of a rabid grass - roots movement . Trolling has become a key tool in a comprehensive effort by Russian authorities to rein in a previously freewheeling Internet culture , after huge anti - Putin protests in 2011 were organized largely over social media . It is used by Kremlin apparatchiks at every level of government in Russia ; wherever politics are discussed online , one can expect a flood of comments from paid trolls .