Kremlin bots spin ruble plunge to soothe Russian citizens
Kremlin bots have launched an offensive to persuade VKontakte social network users that the sharp decline in the ruble's value does not affect the Russian economy, reported the Moscow Times on Friday, citing data from the Botnadzor team.
9:31 AM EST, November 29, 2024
Since November 25, when the ruble began to plummet, bots linked to Russian authorities have posted approximately 600 comments on the VKontakte social network. They argue that fluctuations in the currency exchange rate do not impact Russians' everyday lives.
"Why do we even need that currency? If the rate jumped up, it will fall too," the comments read. The bots referred to the situation in 2022, when the exchange rate was 100 rubles to one dollar, before later dropping to about 60 rubles.
The ruble dives
Another theme propagated by the bots emphasized the ruble's role in international trade. They claimed that Russia conducts trade with "friendly" countries in rubles, and even some Western countries pay for Russian resources in this currency. "What does the dollar have to do with this? Is the world economy based on it? (...) 85% of payments are made in national currencies. The West has long been buying our resources in rubles," the propaganda accounts argued.
On November 27, the dollar's exchange rate on the Forex market in Russia approached 115 rubles, and the euro exceeded 120 rubles. In response to these fluctuations, the Central Bank of Russia set the official exchange rates for Friday: the dollar was priced at 109.5 rubles, and the euro at 116.14 rubles. According to money.pl, the ruble's fall also influenced the yuan's rate. On November 27, "the Chinese currency strengthened by 0.4961 points to 14.9572 rubles, marking an increase of 3.43% compared to Tuesday's close. This is the most significant one-day weakening of the Russian currency against the yuan in many months."
Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, blamed new U.S. sanctions for the ruble's decline.
"The sanctions list included 50 credit institutions. As a result, the circulation of foreign currency through the accounts of these banks is now practically non-existent," he explained.
Botnadzor, whose data the Moscow Times references, is a team researching Russian propaganda and bot activity on the Russian internet.
