Internet Research Agency (IRA)
A Russian troll farm that ran large-scale online influence campaigns using fake social media accounts, paid operators, and coordinated messaging to manipulate political discourse abroad.
What we know
The Internet Research Agency (IRA) was founded around 2013 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch who made his fortune through catering and food service contracts with the Kremlin, earning him the nickname 'Putin's chef.' Prigozhin denied involvement for nearly a decade before publicly admitting in February 2023 that he 'conceived it, developed it, and oversaw it for a significant period.' Funding flowed through his holding company Concord Management and Consulting LLC, which the U.S. Department of Justice indicted in 2018 as the primary financier of IRA operations.
By 2015, the IRA employed approximately 400 staff working in 12-hour shifts at a facility at 55 Savushkina Street in St. Petersburg. Of those, 80 were dedicated exclusively to disrupting the U.S. political system. Each operator had a daily content quota: 5 political posts, 10 nonpolitical posts, and 150–200 comments on other accounts. One IRA employee, Lyudmila Savchuk, later testified that she was paid 41,000 rubles (approximately $778) per month in cash. Management monitored productivity via CCTV and tracked page views, clicks, and traffic like a digital marketing agency.
The financial scale was substantial. U.S. DOJ filings show the IRA spent approximately $12 million in 2016, $12.2 million in 2017, and roughly $10 million in just the first six months of 2018, a total exceeding $35 million between January 2016 and June 2018. By September 2016, the monthly budget for U.S.-targeted operations alone surpassed $1.25 million. The IRA also paid real Americans, unknowingly recruited through fake grassroots organizations, to organize political rallies, print campaign materials, and build protest infrastructure on the ground in U.S. cities.
Common claims
- The IRA used fake accounts to influence political discussions in the U.S.Supported
- The IRA was a small, low-budget operation.Not supported
- The IRA only supported one political side.False
- The IRA controlled all social media platforms.False