This article was originally published in French on August 6, 2024, on Info Ops France.

At the end of July 2024, a military convoy of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) supported by Russian mercenaries from Africa Corps (formerly Wagner) was eliminated near the town of Tinzaouatine in northern Mali by fighters from the Strategic Framework for the Defence of the People of Azawad (CSP-DPA). In this fight, the person behind the Telegram channel affiliated to the Russian mercenary galaxy “GREY ZONE”, nickname “Белый” (from Russian - White) lost his life “with weapons in his hands”, according to the Russians.

The occasion prompted us to take a look at this channel and its ecosystem.

As we can see, two main communities stand out: green (32.87% of all interactions in the sample) and violet (53.91%). The main actors in the green community are Telegram channels like Росич | Rosich and Канал специального назначения (from Russian - Special Purpose Channel). While the violet community revolves around the Astra Militarum [Z] and Квантум справедливости (from Russian - Quantum of Justice) channels, while the GREY ZONE (https://t.me/grey_zone) itself remains important both as a channel receiving a lot of interaction and as a broadcaster, amplifying the spread of information/disinformation.

Analysis of the data stream has helped us to identify the most influential users, both in terms of receiving and disseminating information. Among the users who receive the greatest number of interactions, which makes them particularly influential, we can identify the following: Astra Militarum [Z], followed by Росич | Rosich and Квантум справедливости. These channels are essential because they have the ability to amplify the information / disinformation they receive.

Then, we can distinguish users who possess an active role in spreading information and disinformation. Our findings show that Осведомитель, an unknown user with ID number 19072681168, followed by Канал специального назначения and Z комитет + карта СВО are important one producing and disseminating the content. These users are critical in tracing the origins and spread of disinformation.

Channels with a high weighted degree are central in the network, engaging in both receiving and disseminating information. The main channels identified here are Astra Militarum [Z], Канал специального назначения and Росич | Rosich. These nodes play a pivotal role in network dynamics, significantly influencing communication patterns.

It is interesting to note that the anonymous user with the ID number 19072681168 who receives no interaction, but is the second important as far as the dissemination of content is concerned. He feeds the channel Военный осведомитель and Росич | Rosich. While Военный осведомитель in turn feeds the Dambiev channel, which pushes content to the GREY ZONE channel. While the latter, distributes the information/disinformation to the two communities, green and violet, pushing content to important channels in terms of interactions like Astra Militarum [Z] and Квантум справедливости (violet community), and Канал специального назначения and ДШРГ Русич (green community).

The physical elimination of the author of the GREY ZONE channel may temporarily make it more difficult to spread the content, as it played an important role in disseminating it in both communities. In addition, the actors identified as influential in the reception and dissemination of the content need to be closely monitored. Understanding the type of information they receive and disseminate is paramount in the study of influence operations and disinformation.

The data was collected, processed and analysed by Denys Kolesnyk, founder of the Info Ops France initiative.