A ‘useful idiot’ is a term to describe a person that, without his knowledge, is advocating for a position of an infiltrated political group and is not aware that he is part of a political group that has been created and has ties with foreign intelligence services. During the Soviet era of political infiltration, many members of radical political groups, usually from the American left, were unaware that they were, in fact, members of an organisation that had links to foreign intelligence services. Recently one such agent linked to Russian intelligence conducting political infiltration activities in the U.S. was arrested.

The Agent 

Aleksandr Viktorovich Lonov, a Russian national working for the FSB (Russian Federal Security Service), and the leader of ‘The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia’, was arrested and indicted in Florida for recruiting political groups in Florida, Georgia, and California, recruiting U.S. citizens to act as illegal agents of the Russian government, encouraging and directing them to spread pro-Russian views and propaganda as well as to incite them to protest in the U.S. to support the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to counter the negative media from the invasion. Previously, Lonov had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, due to his financial support for (via orders from his intelligence organisation) groups that would cause social and political strains within the U.S. political framework. 

Playing both sides

Lonov pushed for projects such as the ‘Petition on Crime of Genocide against African People in the United States’ hosted by the platform Change.org. Lonov acted under the name of ‘The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement’, a group that is connected to Lonov through the ‘Anti Globalist Movement of Russia’ whose leader Akile Anai retained contact with Lonov during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The AGMR supports and influences groups and organisations from all sides of the political spectrum such as the aforementioned ‘International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement’ and the ‘League of the South’ a neo-confederate, right-wing political group which aims for a ‘free and independent’ Southern republic’, as well as ‘Yes California’, a Californian secession movement. 

Interestingly, today’s mainstream media outlets focus on Russian infiltration of right-wing groups, whilst infiltration into left-wing groups goes unnoticed. One of the reasons, therefor, is that left-wing groups are usually involved in advocating for minority rights and LGBTQ rights, and have stances against racism and discrimination, allowing for the infiltration or creation of these groups to remain under the radar and blend in as part of a larger progressive movement in the USA. This lies in stark comparison to many of the right-wing groups that have been infiltrated or created by Russian intelligence assets, who have agendas that attract immediate attention during the current progressive era in the West, such as Neo-Nazism, white supremacy and secessionism.

The death of the old right 

The right in the U.S. has shifted far beyond its classical position, last represented during the 1980s with President Reagan’s anti-communist/Russia policies and stances. Various radical elements with opposing beliefs have fractured today’s American right wing.

One of the tenants of many radical right-wing groups is the belief that in the west there is a secret western government order or elite. It is asserted that this order is comprised of politicians usually identified as centre and centre-left politicians, such as democrats in the U.S., businessmen, and Hollywood executives, with the aim of establishing a new world order through various means. The oft-quoted means of establishing the ‘new global order’ are the use of the ‘woke/politically correct’ culture that cancels anyone with differing views, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent vaccines to ‘enslave’ and ‘kill off’ people. 

In addition, more radical elements have espoused (perhaps through Russian propaganda and misinformation) more unorthodox right-wing views such as: ‘Russia being the saviour of the white race’ and the ‘last white empire’ and the belief in the cult of Putin, via the tendency of adoring ‘strong’ leaders within these groups. 

One such radical group is the National Justice Party (NJP), formed by The Rights Stuff (TRS), a far-right radical group, and its sympathisers who were previously part of the Traditionalist Workers Party (TWP), who had their party ideology modelled after Alexander Dugin’s infamous Eurasianism. Alexander Dugin is a political analyst that espouses Eurasianism and the promotion of Putin and his policies. Eurasianism briefly explained, is a political ideology focused on asserting that Russia is neither an Asian, nor a European power, but is Eurasian, in that Russia is itself a separate geopolitical and societal entity and a superpower between Europe and Asia. The reach of the Eurasian world is not limited to Russia in the views of Dugin but extends to all the former Soviet republics. Furthermore, the leader of TWP is said to have been mentored by Dr Matthew Raphael Johnson, a Pro Russian and pro-Putin academic with works titled The Orthodox Medievalist and The Russian Orthodox Nationalist.

Moreover, the NJP is also directly connected to Bausman and Russian money. Charles Bausman bought a property in Pennsylvania, which is where the National Justice Party hosted its first conference in August 2020. This April, Konstantin Malofeev was indicted by the U.S. Justice Department for violating sanctions against Russia. Moreover, the Treasury Department states that Malofeev ‘is one of the main sources of financing for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea’ (regarding the annexation of Crimea in 2014). This connection between Russia and the NJP is further exemplified by the fact that these websites: Russia-Insider.com (Russia Insider), National-Justice.com (National Justice) and Truthtopowernews.com (Truth to Power News) share the same account in Google Analytics, which is a tool the proprietors of those websites use to analyse traffic, according to the Southern Poverty Law Centre.

In the case of the NJP, it is apparent that they have connections to pro-Kremlin oligarchs and propagandists, furthering Kremlin Propaganda and assisting Russian intelligence in their mission to destabilise the American society and political process through the use of deliberate strategy and through these ‘useful idiots’.

Old habits never change

Supporting political movements is of key interest and use for Russian intelligence agencies. According to Stanislav Lunev, a defected colonel from the Soviet Armed Forces Intelligence, Soviet intelligence spent more than $1 billion on peace movements in the United States, such as the movement against the war in Vietnam. Furthermore, another political organisation that was created by the KGB was The World Peace Council, confirmed by Western intelligence to be linked to Russian intelligence and to be a ‘communist front’. According to Major General Oleg Kalugin of the KGB, “The Soviet intelligence [was] really unparalleled. … The [KGB] programs… would run all sorts of congresses, peace congresses, youth congresses, festivals, women’s movements, trade union movements, campaigns … [and] allegations that AIDS was invented by the CIA …”

Many individuals within these supposedly peaceful, neutral organisations that were infiltrated or created by the KGB did not realise that their activities and advocacy for the cause they believed in were being used by the KGB to undermine support for governments in the West, cause social disorder and weaken western society in order for the communist ideology to be embraced by more people, especially the disenfranchised. The same is happening today, but this time in reverse, in support of an invasion.   

Nowadays, various radical left-wing organisations such as the ‘International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement’ and organisations that have associated themselves with the wider ANTIFA movement have disseminated pro-Russia stances during the invasion of Ukraine. These left-wing movements embrace a different message from their right-wing counterparts. Now, the party line is for ‘the liberation of Donbas’ from the ‘Kyiv Nazi regime’. Russian propaganda has been well crafted in painting the majority of Ukraine and its government as Nazis wanting to murder Russians in Donbas, therefore not only enabling radical left groups under its influence and control to spread Russian propaganda but also the ‘useful idiots’ who believe the propaganda to further disseminate it.   

Recently the Centre for Political innovation, a leftist and Marxist organisation, posted a video showing its members marching with the Soviet, DNR (Donbas separatist republic), the Peoples’ Republic of China, and the infamous ‘Z’ (Russian symbol of aggression in Ukraine) flags alongside the American flag, evoking clear support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. An official Twitter Post from their opening ceremony in Chicago stated, “The Center for Political Innovation stands in solidarity with the Uhuru Movement and against FBI raids!” as it is the organisation linked to the Russian intelligence asset Lonov.

Conclusion

Russian intelligence utilises both right and left-wing radical groups to further pro-Russian views, undermining the Western political processes and society at large. What allows for the potency of such efficient utilization of ‘useful idiots’ can be attributed partly to the current political climate in the U.S., which permits and further exacerbates infiltration and disinformation campaigns by allowing foreign intelligence to pit both sides of the political forum in the U.S.A

The war in Ukraine was able to expose the common links and the presence of ‘useful idiots’ in various radical right- and left-wing groups through their support or apologist stance for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Thus, the question to ask, whether it is a radical right- or left-wing group that has assumed a pro-Russian stance, is: are these groups and their members directly and knowingly connected to Russian intelligence, or are they ‘useful idiots’, manipulated or controlled by Russian intelligence agents and assets?