Konstantin Malofeev, a Russian oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was the main lever of Russian influence in the countries of the Western Balkans, according to the latest report of the American State Department, reveals “Dnevni Avaz”.
Namely, the American Global Engagement Center (GEC), which has the authority within the State Department to register threats and attacks on the global scene, especially from the Russian side, published a detailed analysis in which Bosnia and Herzegovina is also mentioned, Avaz news portal reports.
Namely, it was registered that Malofeev, who was banned from entering the BiH Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA) and who is on the American blacklist, was trying to influence the elections in BiH.
The public in BiH was informed about this in detail and about the ways in which the Russian oligarch contacted Milorad Dodik, the then president of the Republika Srpska, with whom he met back in 2014 with the intention of helping him in the elections.
Malofeev stands, as stated in the report behind the organization Catechon based in Moscow, which is the main source of propaganda and disinformation that Russia is trying to place in Europe.
“Within the framework of wider Russian disinformation and propaganda, Catechon plays the role of providing supposedly independent, analytical materials that are mainly intended for the European public. Founded in 2016, the Catechon think tank is a subsidiary of Tsargrad, a company founded by Konstantin Malofeev, the report states, among other things. Malofeyeev has previously been linked to destabilizing activities in Montenegro and Northern Macedonia.
