The small Balkan nation of Macedonia is increasingly a destination for the Kremlin’s political strategists, theof Russian exceptionalism and Moscow’s Orthodox mission in the Slavic world and in Eurasia.
The think-tank and instructors giving lectures and providing training in Macedonia are the same ones that the in its hybrid war prior to the annexation of Crimea and later in the destabilization of the Ukrainian east, as well as an attempted coup in Montenegro.
As in Ukraine, Russia’s information warfare strategists identify the existing grievances in the target country portrayed in a way to promote Moscow’s interests. In Macedonia, Kremlin’s strategists highlight in their existing ethnic and political issues involving the Albanian minority, as well as issues accompanying Macedonia’s NATO/EU aspirations.
According to the Voice of America’s , the key strategist in Russia’s information warfare in Macedonia is Leonid Savin, who in late May provided training for 50 members of the far-right United Macedonia party, which opposes changing Macedonia’s name and views the country’s course towards NATO and the EU as the end of Macedonia’s statehood and independence.
Leonid Savin, according to his biography, is the “Commissar of the ” -- a branch of Russia’s ultra-nationalist Eurasian Union, a movement created by Alexander Dugin and his ideological companions.
The “platform” of the Eurasian Youth Union includes such sections as:
There is also an “” section, which is entirely devoted to the United States. The section ends with a paragraph that states, in boldface: “Our Union has an absolute enemy. It is the U.S.A. It is the alpha and omega of our hatred.”
Along with his affiliation with Alexander Dugin, Savin’s other connections further identify him as a key figure in the Kremlin’s expansionist policy.
Savin is listed as the chief-editor of two agencies: and , and a regular contributor at the state-backed .
Katehon is a website funded and owned by , a Russian multimillionaire sanctioned by the United States for his logistical, financial, ideological and material support of Russia’s operations in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
However, Ukraine is only a small part of Malofeev’s geopolitical interests.
An investigation by the German newspaper in 2015 revealed ties that Malofeev and Dugin had with Greece’s top political figures, all leading back to Vladimir Putin.
Malofeev, Dugin and Co. were reportedly involved in the attempted in 2016 and several other .