Former Special Assistant to the President: Russia Was Stealing E-Mails and Releasing Compromising Data

Russia is conducting covert operations in democratic countries to weaken their democratic institutions and increase its own influence, Dr. Celeste Wallander stated during Kyiv Security Forum online discussion.

She stressed that all the way back to the 2016 elections Russia interfered through social media, covert operations, stealing e-mails and releasing compromising data.

"All was multifaceted, it had many elements. And it exploded existing debates and challenges, and controversies in America politics. Russia did not create the political pluralism in the United States. It exploits it and exacerbates it and turns it towards more extreme views," former Special Assistant to the President emphasized.

She underlined that US experts, including US Intelligence agencies, even this year confirmed publicly that Russian operations are continuing to do that.

"They did it during our elections in 2018, but less effectively. But they are already preparing and conducting such operations in 2020," Dr. Celeste Wallander said. 

"Russian agents are very good in updating and adapting, and learning. That they are indeed exploiting and advancing and exacerbating any opportunity to create negative attitudes towards Ukraine and the United States," she added.

Former Special Assistant to the President also emphasized that he best thing that we can do to undermine those operations and their effectiveness is to shine a light on them and to encourage citizens "to be smart about how they can be manipulated and used, to check information, to now allow themselves to be turned against what is actually a healthy pluralism in both countries."

Kyiv Security Forum is Ukraine’s foremost platform for high-level international discussion about peace and security. Kyiv Security Forum was founded in 2007.