Integrity Initiative

Integrity Initiative (Orwellian language‎, Deep state faction, Third rail topic‎)
Abbreviation	II
Motto	Defending Democracy Against Disinformation
Formation	2015
Founder	•  Chris Donnelly •  Institute for Statecraft •  Free University of Brussels
Parent organization	Institute for Statecraft
Headquarters	Institute for Statecraft
Victim of	projection, Russophobia
Interests	Russian propaganda, Russian cyberwarfare, Cold War 2.0
Interest of	Max Blumenthal, King's College London, Kit Klarenberg, Mike Robinson, Rogue Media Labs, Johanna Ross, Softpanorama, Chris Williamson, Working Group on Syria Propaganda and Media
Founder of	Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Australia, Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Austria, Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Baltics, Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Canada, Integrity Initiative/Cluster/France, Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Leaders, Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Lithuania, Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Moldova, Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Netherlands, Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Nordic, Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Poland, Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Spain, Integrity Initiative/Cluster/US, Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Ukraine
Sponsored by	UK/FCO, WhistleblowersUK
Subpage	•Integrity Initiative/Cluster •Integrity Initiative/Cover up •Integrity Initiative/Director •Integrity Initiative/Leak
Membership	•  Andy Pryce •  Lukas Andriukaitis •  Anne Bader •  Anna Bosch •  Simon Bracey-Lane •  Ben Bradshaw •  Quique Badia-Masoni •  Stephen Dalziel •  Yusuf Desai •  Chris Donnelly •  Alex Finnen •  Nigel Gould-Davies •  Maria de Goeij •  Euan Grant •  Jack Hagley •  Chris Hernon •  Dan Kaszeta •  Kseniya Kirillova •  Borja Lasheras •  Todd Leventhal •  Victor Madeira •  Jelena Milic •  Mira Milosevich •  Johanna Moehring •  Alina Mosendz •  Nico de Pedro •  Gonzalez Ponz •  Tim Reilly •  Chris Robinson •  Greg Rowett •  James Sherr •  Charles Simon •  Jacky Sloane •  Nacho Torreblanco •  James Wilson •  Andrew Wood
"Military-directed" "extremely shady covert disinformation and anti-democratic deep state outfit" that promotes Russophobic propaganda. Exposed by a set of 7 caches of documents, posted online. Later deleted its website.

The Integrity Initiative (II) is an organ of the UK Deep state, controlled through the Institute for Statecraft. It was exposed in 2018-19 by 7 sets of leaked documents. Craig Murray blogged that it “offers us a glimpse into the very dirty world of surveillance and official disinformation. If we actually had a free media, it would be the biggest story of the day.” Lucy Morgan Edwards summarised it in January 2019 as "an extremely shady covert disinformation and anti-democratic deep state outfit", David Miller opined that it was "military-directed". On 22 January 2019 it claimed that some of the data leaked had been falsified (but did not specify which), briefly locked its Twitter feed and deleted its entire website except for a coverpage. By the end of 2019 a large majority of the group's publicly known members (right) had removed all mention of it from their public pages such as Linkedin.  

Sub-Pages

Page Name	Size	Description
Integrity Initiative/Cluster	7,114	Metastases from the IfS/II. Covert cells with a single leader, been used to exert clandestine influence from the London HQ, for example to promote particular opinions or to smear people it deems undesirable.
Integrity Initiative/Cover up	4,480	The
Integrity Initiative/Director	109
Integrity Initiative/Leak	6,847	A series of 7 leaks, starting on 5 November 2018, of unknown origin and veracity. After some time, the II disputed the authenticity of some of the documents, but was not clear about which.

Official narrative

The II was set up in Autumn 2015 by the Institute for Statecraft and the Free University of Brussels. In response to an urgent parliamentary question from Emily Thornberry, Alan Duncan stated that "the Institute for Statecraft is an independent UK-based charity whose work seeks to improve governance and enhance national security. It runs a project called the integrity initiative, which is working to counter disinformation overseas by bringing together groups of experts to analyse and discuss the problem posed by Russian disinformation."

Funding

The UK funds the II through the FCO Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) (£2 million in 2018).

The funding for 2018-9 is also listed in one of the leaked documents as follows:

• NATO HQ Public Diplomacy, £12,000 for each inaugural workshop = £168,000
• Partner institutions £5,000 for each inaugural workshop = £70,000
• NATO HQ for educational video films – free provision of camera team
• Lithuanian MOD to provide free all costs for their stratcom team for a monthly trip to support a new hub/cluster creation and to educate cluster leaders and key people in Vilnius in infowar techniques = £20,000
• US State Dept, £250,000 for research and dissemination activities (excluding any activity in USA)
• Smith Richardson Foundation, £45,000 for cluster activities in Europe and USA
• Facebook, £100,000 for research and education activities
• German business community, £25,000 for research and dissemination in EU countries

The Leak

Full article: Integrity Initiative/Leak

In late 2018 and early 2019, Anonymous published 7 tranches of documents at CyberGuerilla which gave names of people who worked for the group and some details of its work.

Cellular structure

Full article: Integrity Initiative/Cluster

The group is composed of "clusters" of supporters, which appear to be responsive to directions (since they receive funding) from the London headquarters. These are mostly one per nation state, although some countries have more. Initially they include regional clusters (e.g. Balkans, Scandinavia) which are then divided up into individual countries. Currently, 26 of these groups are known, mostly in Europe, but also including the US and Australia.

Staff

The founder of the II, Chris Donnelly, a former adviser to figures including Margaret Thatcher and four secretaries general of NATO, appears to be a UK deep state operative.

Some group members have clear connections to other organs of the UK Deep state, such as Chatham House, other(s) have been UK ambassadors. The group also includes some youngsters with no such clear connections but who have unusual career trajectories. Seceral have language skills, particularly Russian.

Activities

The Integrity Initiative's bid for 2017/18 MoD funding included multiple performance indicators about the purported Russian threat, as well as a "Tougher stance in government policy towards Russia".

Leaked documents include contingency plans involving "triggering timely responses from governments" — unexpected activity since UK charities are mandated to be apolitical.

Russophobia

Full article: Russophobia

In 2018, Integrity Initiative staff members gave dozens of presentations and media interviews on "Russian disinformation and malign influence".

Cyberwarfare

Full article: “Cyberwarfare”

The shortage of qualified personnel to dominate the cyber realm has been noted in the last decade. It appears that from the proposals of the Integrity Initiative in 2016 an encompassing recruiting effort is now underway by the British government through programs like the: "Cyber Schools Hub programme", which is meant to get children interested in hacking and related skills for cyberwar.

Skripal affair

Full article: Skripal affair

The Integrity Initiative and the Institute for Statecraft showed great interest in the Skripal affair, although none of the documents include any reference to attempting to discover who was responsible. Instead, attention was focused on public perceptions of culpability and especially how social media was influential in determining them.

Project Iris

Full article: Project Iris

On 15^th March 2018 an unidentified party send a proposal to Greg Rowett "to study social media activity in respect of the events that took place, how news spread and evaluate how the incident is being perceived in the UK, USA, France, Germany and Russia." The cost of this report, carried out by Harod Associates, was put at £7,500 - £10,000 +VAT, plus a second phase of regular monitoring of £200/day.

Purposes

Full article: Integrity Initiative/Purposes

One of the main purposes of the II appears to be to try to promote Russophobia. One tactic is the use of coordinated disinformation campaigns online to prevent the appointment of perceived "pro-Kremlin" voices, (such as the Moncloa Campaign, which blocked the appointment of Pedro Baños as Director of the Spanish Department of Homeland Security). Another is the researching of how to carry out effective misinformation campaigns online. A third is the organising of public events such as Cold War Then and Now?

Skripal Affair

Full article: Skripal Affair

The group was extremely interested in the public response to the Skripal Affair, about which the UK government issued a D-Notice to control what the commercially-controlled media reported. The name of Pablo Miller, Sergei Skripal's handler, appears in one of the leaked II documents. The II website have various articles promoting the official narrative of the Skripal affair.

On 20 July 2018 Dan Kaszeta published an article entitled Demolishing the Kremlin’s absurd theories about Novichok and Porton Down which concluded that "The proximity argument is absurd. The simple fact is that a nation like the UK needs a place like Porton Down to do valuable work to protect not just the nation’s armed forces but also to protect all of us who live here. Alleging leaks and plots does not do any good for anyone. In the absence of any evidence, these stories and theories are absurd."

On 21 December 2018 Dan Kaszeta "heartily recommend[ed]" The Skripal Files by Mark Urban and termed it "the best starting point available at the moment" on the Skripal Affair.

Operation Beluga

French "counter-terrorism" expert Paul Barril was interviewed in 2016 and spoke about Operation Beluga, which is, according to his information, a "covert Western intelligence scheme intended to undermine Russia and its leaders". The poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, which was blamed on Russia by the United Kingdom, happened under US/UK supervision. With the very questionable poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in 2018 and another, Alexei Navalny in 2020, a pattern emerges in which the Kremlin kills it's critics with poison - which in turn is used to build up an enemy image that is broadcasted to the audiences of all NATO aligned nations.

Exposure

The II was exposed by a leak on 5 November 2018. Independent media sources have picked up the news about the Integrity Initiative, but UK corporate media has said very little about it.

Parliamentary question

On 4 December 2018 Labour MP Chris Williamson tabled a parliamentary question, asking whether Integrity Initiative - a "so-called think-tank dealing in disinformation" - had received UK government funding. The response was affirmative and he called for an parliamentary inquiry.

Reporting

RT, Sputnik, MintPress News and 21st Century Wire have reported on the Integrity Initiative, and Craig Murray has personally investigated.

Inquiry

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator opened an inquiry into the Institute for Statecraft the 13 December 2018, which after 10 months found that "one of its most significant activities, a project known as the Integrity Initiative did not provide public benefit in furtherance of the charity's purposes". It also found that trustees had “breached their trustee duties to act with care and diligence in the interest of the charity, some of them to a serious extent”.

Cover up

Full article: Integrity Initiative/Cover up

Removal of internet presence

On 22 January, the Integrity Initiative announced the "temporary" removal of all content from its website, and interrupted its Twitter feed, making it followers only for a period of time. It also claimed that "We are keen to trace both the source of the hack and the use to which our data - some genuine, some falsified - has been put." RT remarked "The website will be “relaunched shortly” and “analysis” of the hack and its “significance” will be published soon, the statement said. It doesn’t look as though many will be awaiting that analysis with bated breath, however." On 23rd January the Integrity Initiative briefly locked their twitter account. which was reversed

 

Documents by Integrity Initiative

Title	Document type	Publication date	Subject(s)	Description
Document:5 July Seminar; Potential guest list for discussion	spooky seminar invitation list	26 February 2016	Deep state Propaganda UK Integrity Initiative Spooky seminar	Seminar with a mix of media, academics and lots of spooks
Document:ATA and YATA UK networks development	assessment Greg Rowett and networking	26 December 2018	Atlantic Treaty Association Greg Rowett Networking	Greg Rowett explaining how II has developed personal connections with Atlantic Treaty Association and Young Atlantic Treaty Association leaders from other nations, and been recognised and ratified as the UK chapter for both
Document:An assessment of RT in the Middle East and North Africa: April 2018	report	26 December 2018	An assessment of RT in the Middle East and North Africa: April 2018	An assessment of RT in the Middle East and North Africa: April 2018
Document:Appendix A Ukraine Indicators and Warnings	Ukrainan view of Russian/separatist tactics and strategy	26 February 2016	Russia Ukraine Separatists	Ukrainian officers tells British colleagues their opinions
Document:Bid for MoD Funding 2017-2018	project proposal	14 March 2017	Propaganda Integrity Initiative II/C	"Creation of a Europe-wide network of groups who understand the danger of Russian active measures and who can pass the message on to their own decision-makers and public, often using material which we initiate"
Document:Brief on Monitoring Moldovan 2019 Elections	Briefing	26 December 2018	Moldova Election Election monitoring Maia Sandu	"As a conclusion, it is absolutely important for foreign missions and observers to start monitoring the Moldovan elections already now, since elections are made long before the voting date!"
Document:CND Gen list 2	name list	26 December 2018	List of names and emails for CND Gen	list of names and email addresses of what seems to be intelligence workers/assets (CND is short for Christopher Nigel Donnelly)
Document:CND Integrity Initiative visit to Oslo, 29-31 Aug 2016	schedule	26 December 2018	Norway Aftenposten Institute for Defence Studies Northern Norway Barents Observer	Donnelly's travel itinerary to Oslo + meeting how to create cell in Norway
Document:Chris Donnelly Recommendation for the Appointment or Extension of Tenure of an Honorary Colonel of a T/A Reserve Regional Unit	Recommendation for Extension of Tenure of an Honorary Colonel	26 December 2018	Chris Donnelly Specialist Group Military Intelligence	Recommendation for Extension of Tenure of an Honorary Colonel for Chris Donnelly working in Specialist Group Military Intelligence
Document:Chris Donnelly Washington DC Schedule	schedule	26 December 2018	Wikipedia Washington DC	A schedule of c's meetings in Washington
Document:CyberGuardian Cyber Security Education Programme for Children and Young People	brainwashing concept paper	30 January 2016	Hacking "Cyberwarfare" Brainwashing of children	II puts lots of thought into how the military can train British children for cyberwarfare.
Document:DK15 2016 The Institute for Statecraft PC	Invoice	26 December 2018	Hungarian invoice to The Institute for Statecraft Integrity Initiative
Document:DK6 2016 PC The Institute for Statecraft	Invoice	26 December 2018	Hungarian invoice to The Institute for Statecraft Integrity Initiative
Document:Discernment: Why information statecraft matters	strategy document	26 December 2018	Censorship Brainwashing "Radicalisation" Information health	Musings on how to keep media dominance and control young minds
Document:Discussion with Artur Gherman re the situation in Moldova, 28 01 2017	Discussion	26 December 2018	Freemasonry Moldova Election
Document:Donnelly Workshop Sept 19	workshop participants	26 December 2018	List of email addresses
Document:Euan Grant Contributions	Wikispooks Page	8 May 2018	Euan Grant Contributions	Euan Grant telling how he plans to offer completed packages of material to professional bodies, print and online press
Document:Executive Summary Cyber Security Education Programme for Children and Young People	brainwashing concept paper executive summary	26 February 2016	Hacking "Cyberwarfare" Brainwashing of children	II sums up its thought on how the military can train British children for cyberwarfare
Document:FCO Disinformation update: Salisbury and Syria	review	26 December 2018	Douma attack Skripal Affair "Russian Propaganda"	UK Foreign Office email, presumably to trusted pro-government journalists, with information as 'background for your own work'. Cliff notes on Douma, Skripal etc.
Document:FCO US Integrity Initiative	sketching out a US II-network	26 December 2018	Request for US support
Document:Forward Thinking Report - The potential relevance of the Ukrainian National Reform Council to the Tunisian Transition	policy advice	26 December 2018	Ukraine "Arab Spring" Tunisia	making the Tunisian economy more like Ukraine's
Document:Greek Cluster Meeting	cluster meeting	25 June 2018		The Greek cell ('cluster') conspires against the elected Syriza government.
Document:Greek Media and Information Literacy Week	media workshop	28 November 2018		The British covert propaganda outfit wants..."to familiarize readers/media users with basic principles and concepts so that they can judge and control...the online and printed content they read, share or create, so as to be able to distinguish news from misinformation, biased content, or propaganda".
Document:Gyori lorant acc invoice 00719-16-MFE	Prepayment request	26 December 2018	Meeting loots of spooks/propagandists in Washington
Document:II Report Greek Diplomatic Expulsions	press summary	28 November 2018		Summary of Greek comments after expulsion of Russian diplomats "with the constant advice of the American embassy".
Document:Independent journalism in hostile places or How to report Repressive Regimes and survive	review of proposal of joint event with private (?) company	26 December 2018		A spooky company called Foreign Desk Ltd suggest a joint event with the Integrity Initiative. The proposal has comments from II's Victor Madeira
Document:Institute for Statecraft & Center for Naval Analyses Joint Workshop	workshop summary	22 June 2018	Sweden Estonia Norway Poland Psyop Navy Nuclear weapon US/Marine Corps Zapad Information Warfare	Information Warfare Study Day hosted by British Navy. Candid opinions (with a NATO-flavor) on lots of military issues.
Document:Institute for Statecraft Event China	event plan	26 December 2018	China
Document:Institute for Statecraft Event Nigeria	event planning	26 December 2018	Nigeria 77th Brigade Donald Duke	A strict security round table discussion with Donald Duke, very likely to be a candidate in the next presidential elections in Nigeria
Document:Institute for Statecraft Production timetable March-June 2016	list of Armenians suspected of being Russian propagandists	26 December 2018	Free University of Brussels Ofcom Armenia List of opponents List of suspected Russian propagandists
Document:Integrity 2018 Moldova Cluster (1)	strategy document	26 December 2018	Corporate media Strategy Plans Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Moldova
Document:Integrity France	report	25 June 2018	Propaganda France Integrity Initiative II/C	a partial list of II-France members. For complete list, see Integrity Initiative/Cluster/France
Document:Integrity Initiative Budget for the 12 months ending 31 March 2019	Budget and activity plan	2 November 2018	Propaganda Integrity Initiative II/C Political warfare Information Operation	Budget outlining how Integrity Initiative is going to control the information space, and influence policy-makers, specialists and media.
Document:Integrity Initiative Serbian Cluster	budget	26 December 2018	Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Serbia	budget and activities of an Integrity Initiative influence network in Serbia
Document:Integrity Initiative Staff Payments	payment list	26 December 2018	Salaries of British intelligence workers	salaries etc. of II staff members
Document:Invoice Eduard Abrahamyan	invoice	26 December 2018	Eduard Abrahamyan	Invoice from Eduard Abrahamyan for work performed
Document:Invoice for 2 articles by Dan Kaszeta	invoice	26 December 2018	Integrity Initiative articles	Invoice for 2 articles written by Dan Kaszeta for Integrity Initiative “Poison gas” and "Nerve agents and treatment”
Document:Maritime Battle Staff Information Warfare (IW) Study Day	seminar description	22 June 2018	Netherlands Psyop DETER/DECEIVE Information Warfare	Information Warfare Study Day hosted by British Navy
Document:Meeting Note Moscow Stock Exchange Forum	seminar description	12 June 2017	Gold Oil Aluminium Russian economy Economic warfare Arkady Dvorkovich Alexander Afanasiev Pavel Grachev Oleg Mukhamedshin Grain	II, probably Victor Madeira or Perry Fawcett, attended a Russian business forum in London
Document:Meetings in Greece Feb 2017	cluster meeting	10 February 2017		Greek II collaborators discussing how to reorient Greek public opinion.
Document:Moldova- suggested priorities for consideration by clusters and UK staff in light of recent and ongoing developments	Strategy Document	26 December 2018	Moldova II/C Making and spreading of outputs
Document:Nationbuilder People	name list	26 December 2018	List of media people	list of Nationbuilder people, ie journalists mostly in large media corporations
Document:Notes from colleagues in the Baltic States who are monitoring Russia carefully	Wikispooks Page	18 March 2018	Skripal Affair Russia/Propaganda	A document from the Integrity Initiative Leak which asserts that "A criminal investigation [into the Skripal affair] alone will not throw these essential clues up, and is unlikely to yield sufficient judicial evidence We need to be looking at, and explaining, this attack from a political and military-intelligence perspective. That means educating our audience to understand how Russia sees this world as being at war."
Document:Outline Concept paper for IfS US programme v6 28 08 2017 (003)	request for US support	26 December 2018	Integrity Initiative/Cluster
Document:Pitch for a long-Form TV series about Russia in the 1990s	media strategy planning	26 December 2018	Russia Media strategy TV-series	Pitch for creating a long-Form TV series about Russia in the 1990s
Document:Post Trip Report Stratcom event 11-13th June 2018	report	26 December 2018	Participants telling of several meeting with fellow information warriors in Riga	Participants telling of several meeting with fellow information warriors in Riga, esp. British and Dutch. Ad bureau Saatchi working for US State Dept.
Document:Private List for Chris. (Possible Funders in Swittzerland)	name list	26 December 2018	List of cutouts	This is a list of cutouts, seemingly 'independent' 'philanthropic' foundations financing intelligence work
Document:Private discussion with Gen Sir Richard Barrons	report	26 December 2018	Former leader of British forces Richard Barrons telling of his worries for Britain and the British forces	Former leader of British forces Richard Barrons sketching out military needs. "The 1st offset in the 1950s was through nuclear weapons. The 2nd was precision munitions in the 1980s. The 3rd offset today is to use information technologies to build new capabilities".."The Army understands the importance of information warfare and 77 Brigade is right" ..So we should them [our allies], especially the US, to tell us what is expected of us."
Document:Production schedule 05 04 2016	output report	4 May 2016		A list of written output from II staff, mostly for internal study use.
Document:Production timetable March-April 2016	output planning report	25 February 2016		A list of planned written output from II staff, similar to Document:Production schedule 05 04 2016
... further results

 

Quotes by Integrity Initiative

Page	Quote	Date	Source
Institute for Statecraft/Projection	“Postimees has published 14 articles after the Skirpal (sic.) attack. Most of them are referring to the facts announced by the UK government or security forces.”		Integrity Initiative/Leak
Institute for Statecraft/Projection	“It is essential to understand their ability to lie and to have no remorse for their murderous actions, be it an individual, such as Litvinenko and possibly Skripal, or be it hundreds of their own people or thousands of innocent victims in Ukraine or Syria.”		Integrity Initiative/Leak
Institute for Statecraft/Projection	“ “Information war” (informatsionnaya voyna) There is a clear distinction between the Russian definition: an all-encompassing, and not limited to wartime and the Western one: limited, tactical information operations carried out during hostilities. Russian approach is much broader than simply sowing lies and denial, for instance maintaining that Russian troops and equipment are not where they plainly are. Russian state and non-state actors have exploited history, culture, language, nationalism and more to carry out cyber-enhanced disinformation campaigns with much wider objectives. Russian aims to extract, exfiltrate, manipulate, distort, or insert information, or just isolate a target from sources of information other than Russian ones.”		Integrity Initiative/Leak/5
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes	“Core aim of Russian propaganda is to get people to say the BBC is the same as RT/Sputnik. Satisfaction with BBC public is low among ordinary Scottish people.”		Integrity Initiative/Leak/3
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes	“In terms of power projection the growth in British naval aviation is very encouraging... A phenomenon has taken place ever since the Communist flag came down from above the Kremlin. How we would achieve peace? We reduced our defense, and moved from threat based planning to a capability based planning - we lost the ability to say we need x, because of y. Now, when you go to the politicians and say I need 127 F22s, the most predictable response, why? The answer is of course: "because x". We need to return to a threat culture, where requirement is met by a capability.. Collectively we looked at those capabilities, and saw we could destroy ourselves by all spending all at the same time, but shifted into dabbling into a bit of everything - what we need to do now is have clearly defined roles... There areas for optimism, the increased [military] investment...”		Integrity Initiative/Leak#5
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes	“We are at war, in a hybrid war, we cannot deter it - only fight it... We need to go away and seek to change the minds within uniformed services, and move away from a mentality of peacetime, to one of wartime.”		Integrity Initiative/Leak#5
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes	“The UK would love it's (sic.) own ballistic capabilities, both in a sovereign sense & to enable better cooperation. The range rings represent threats themselves, even if the capabilities are not matched by intent, there is an lack of will by politicians to provide the necessary protection. Not enough political drive enough, there is significant public blindness, if the public were kept in a state of - this would be easier, however politicians would prefer to have a blithe sense of safety. This represents a start difference to Putin, who has been whipping up the fear.”		Integrity Initiative/Leak#5
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes	“The Italian reactions to Skripal case highlight and confirm a pattern already present in a previous report: pro-Russian sentiments in Italy are mainly inflated not by trolls or fake news but thanks to a large network encompassing politicians, journalists, media, websites etc. already aligned with Russian narrative... To counter this Italian trend it's important to properly address the key political leaders, their new populist parties, and key editorialists, by an effective, discrete and articulated information campaign and narrative and not to be exclusively focused on trolls and fake news.”	16 March 2018
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes	“Connects media with academia with policy makers with practitioners in a country to impact on policy and society: (Jelena Milic silencing pro-kremlin voices on Serbian TV)”
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes	“We engage only very discreetly with governments, based entirely on trusted personal contacts, specifically to ensure that they do not come to see our work as a problem, and to try to influence them gently, as befits an independent NGO operation like ours.”		Integrity Initiative/Leak
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes	“Publish striking images of SV Skripal in hospital and/or victims of similar exposures to nerve agents (something like the iconic 2006 photograph of Sasha Litvinenko on his deathbed). A high-impact visual story to help the public relate to the enormity of what has just happened in Salisbury.”		Integrity Initiative/Leak
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes	“It is vital to understand the reasons behind Putin’s warped reasoning – the fact that he is prepared to lie and to kill to protect his wealth and power – if we are to comprehend why the Kremlin has launched this information attack on the West. Only then can we begin to combat it. In Soviet times there was an ideological element, the battle of Capitalism versus Communism. That no longer plays a part. But Putin wants the West at least to respect Russia; better still to fear Russia. That is Putin’s mindset. If in Soviet times the leadership of the USSR relied on Western sympathisers with the Communist cause to help them in their mission, nowadays the Kremlin can call upon support in the West from three groups of people: naïve Russophiles who, despite all the evidence to the contrary, believe that Putin “can’t be all that bad, and anyway the Americans are just as bad”; those who are prepared to toe the Russian line in return for money; or those who are being blackmailed.”	May 2018	Integrity Initiative/Leak
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes	“Putin will be around for the foreseeable future - even if he went, what comes after Putin, wouldn't be much better. We believe we will have to face the Russian challenge for many years to come.”		Integrity Initiative/Leak
Institute for Statecraft/Purposes	“With missile threats and nuclear threats. The UK has forgotten the importance of conventional strength as a method of defence.”		Integrity Initiative/Leak
Integrity Initiative/Cluster	“What access do they have to the individuals or groups we might want to see represented in a cluster (e.g. journalists, politicians, civil servants, military, academics, business etc.)? What are their capabilities/competencies for: research & analysis; networking; mentoring, conference organising, dissemination (writing, translating, public speaking, publishing, broadcasting)?”		Integrity Initiative/Leak/1
Integrity Initiative/Cluster	“The Integrity Initiative has the opportunity to develop the programme into North America, based on the Institute’s subsidiary, the Institute for Statecraft and Governance, which has a simple office in DC and is in the course of registering as a US 501 c 3 not-for-profit organisation.”		Integrity Initiative/Leak/1
Integrity Initiative/Cluster	“Experience in Phase 1 has shown that, once a cluster has been established, measurable impact can be expected within 3 months and the cluster is fully effective within 6 – 9 months.”		Integrity Initiative/Leak/1
Troll	“The impact of troll accounts cannot be underestimated as they add an additional dimension to an organised disinformation campaign that is difficult to counter. It was noticeable during the research that, whilst UK media could hold its own against its Russian counterparts, there was no UK equivalent to the Russian trolls, who would able to counter their relentless bombardment of anti-establishment rhetoric.”	18 April 2018	Integrity Initiative/Leak/4
Troll	“Someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. They hide behind their computer screens, and actively go out of their way to cause trouble on the internet. The internet troll is angry and disruptive in every possible way.”	18 April 2018	Integrity Initiative/Leak/4

 

Related Quotations

Page	Quote	Author	Date
Institute for Statecraft/Secrecy	“Code of Conduct (Greg to commence with internet etiquette) Anonymity of the team remains paramount. As our activity increases we will, no doubt, attract unwanted attention.”		30 May 2018
Institute for Statecraft/Secrecy	“Be absolutely sure you have good references for people so we know we can trust them before we talk to them about our programme”		30 May 2018
Institute for Statecraft/Secrecy	“Beware the friendly host who wants to book travel or accommodation on your behalf. Absolutely get their tips on where to stay but avoid getting into tricky scenarios and ensure you follow company guidelines and book everything yourself. If in doubt, ask advice from another team member.”		30 May 2018
Institute for Statecraft/Secrecy	“* Chris Donnelly makes initial country introduction with nominated trusted 'cordinator' & relevant II team member/s (normally 2 members minimum per country) II team member/s coordinate foundation workshop to connect members, formally introduce them to II aims, establish target programme for research, issemmination and events. Members to sign code of conduct & non-disclosure Greg Rowett to start code of conduct doc to include basic info on passwords and etiquette with social media etc - final ok should be sought from James Wilson. Debate and decide preferred methods of communication. Activity: £3k budget (based on 20 clusters)”		30 May 2018
Institute for Statecraft/Secrecy	“Beware the friendly host who wants to book travel or accommodation on your behalf. Absolutely get their tips on where to stay but avoid getting into tricky scenarios and ensure you follow company guidelines and book everything yourself. If in doubt, ask advice from another team member.”		30 May 2018
Integrity Initiative/Cluster	“An effective network is best achieved by forming in each European country a cluster of well-informed people from the political, military, academic, journalistic and think-tank spheres, who will track and analyse examples of disinformation in their country and inform decision-makers and other interested parties about what is happening.”		30 May 2018
Integrity Initiative/Cluster	“Be absolutely sure you have good references for people so we know we can trust them before we talk to them about our programme ... Chris Donnelly makes initial country introduction with nominated trusted 'coordinator' & relevant II team member/s (normally 2 members minimum per country) II team member/s coordinate foundation workshop to connect members, formally introduce them to II aims, establish target programme for research, dissemination and events. Members to sign code of conduct & non-disclosure Greg Rowett to start code of conduct doc to include basic info on passwords and etiquette with social media etc - final ok should be sought from James Wilson. Debate and decide preferred methods of communication. Activity: £3k budget (based on 20 clusters)”		30 May 2018
Dan Kaszeta	“I will continue to work for @InitIntegrity as needed. If that makes you angry, that's your problem and not mine.”	Dan Kaszeta	5 February 2019
Craig Murray	“We have a programme, the Integrity Initiative, whose entire purpose is to pump out covert disinformation against Russia, through social media and news stories secretly paid for by the British government. And we have the Skripals’ MI6 handler, the BBC, Porton Down, the FCO, the MOD and the US Embassy, working together in a group under the auspices of the Integrity Initiative. The Skripal Case happened to occur shortly after a massive increase in the Integrity Initiative’s budget and activity, which itself was a small part of a British Government decision to ramp up a major information war against Russia. I find that very interesting indeed.”	Craig Murray	21 December 2018
Ben Nimmo	“Ben Nimmo works for the Atlantic Council, funded inter alia by NATO. He is also on a retainer of £2,500 per month from the Integrity Initiative, in addition to payments for individual pieces of work. For his attack on Scottish Nationalists Nimmo was therefore paid by the Atlantic Council (your taxes through NATO), by the Integrity Initiative (your taxes) and by the Herald (thankfully shortly going bankrupt)... Nimmo’s role as witchfinder-general for Russian Bots appears very remunerative. His August 2016 invoice to The Institute for Statecraft, apparently the 71st invoice he had issued to various neo-con bodies that year, was for £5,000.”	Craig Murray Ben Nimmo	22 December 2018

 

Known members

30 of the 36 of the members already have pages here:

Member	Description
Lukas Andriukaitis	Integrity Initiative forensic researcher
Anne Bader	Senior Associate Fellow of the Institute for Statecraft
Quique Badia-Masoni	Spanish journalist member of the Integrity Initiative and the Institute for Statecraft.
Anna Bosch
Simon Bracey-Lane	A "highly improbable left wing firebrand" who worked for the Institute for Statecraft and whom they denied was a spook.
Ben Bradshaw	UK politician and a member of the Integrity Initiative
Stephen Dalziel	Spokesman for the Institute for Statecraft and "Research and Staff Coordinator" of the Integrity Initiative with "Forty years of dealing with Russia"... “Definitely not secret service, I promise you.” Russo-British Chamber of Commerce director
Chris Donnelly	A UK Deep politician who set up the Institute for Statecraft (amongst other groups).
Alexander Finnen	Spooky UK deep state operative, Chris Donnelly's "right hand man"
Maria de Goeij	Integrity Initiative/Institute for Statecraft polyglot
Nigel Gould-Davies	Chatham House, Integrity Initiative
Euan Grant	Spooky journalist/propagandist who worked for the Integrity Initiative interested in financial fraud. "His main forte is thinking strategically and has experience working in many countries around the world."
Chris Hernon	Integrity Initiative
Dan Kaszeta	Spooky US/UK propagandist with a focus on biological weapons, uninvited from a UK MoD conference after his social media posts were deemed to be ill advised. Member of the Integrity Initiative.
Kseniya Kirillova	"Russian dissident journalist and expert on Russian propaganda and disinformation" who was a member of the Integrity Initiative.
Francisco de Borja Lasheras	A member of the Integrity Initiative/Cluster/Spain and the European Council on Foreign Relations
Todd Leventhal	A writer at America.gov Member of the Institute for Statecraft
Victor Madeira	A UK academic who has focused on Russian espionage. A member of the IfS and the II.
Jelena Milić	Serbian member of the Integrity Initiative and of DisinfoPortal, suspected deep state functionary
Mira Milosevich	Polyglot fellow of the Integrity Initiative
Alina Mosendz	Member of the Integrity Initiative and StopFake
Johanna Möhring	A senior fellow of the Institute for Statecraft
Esteban Gonzáles Pons	Spanish politician and member of the Integrity Initiative
Andy Pryce	Head of 'Counter Disinformation and Media Development' at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London
Tim Reilly
Greg Rowett	"Information warfare specialist" at the Institute For Statecraft
James Sherr	Member of the Institute for Statecraft, Chatham House, RUSI Director
José Ignacio Torreblanca	Spanish journalist, member of the Integrity Initiative. Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations Office in Madrid
James Wilson	Institute for Statecraft connected lawyer
Andy Wood	UK Ambassador to Russia (1995-2000), Institute for Statecraft...

 

Events Planned

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
Cold War Then and Now?	13 October 2018 09:30:00	13 October 2018 16:30:00	London City of London School UK	A free conference that appears to have been part of a broader campaign by the Institute for Statecraft to promote Cold War 2.0.
Reframing Russia	1 June 2017	31 May 2020	University of Manchester	An IfS/II discussed project about "The RT Challenge" which was publicly launched in 2019, not under the II/IfS name.
Tackling Tools of Malign Influence	1 November 2018	2 November 2018	London Frontline Club	Integrity Initiative conference about "Russian Propaganda"
Workshop on Identifying and Combating Disinformation in Big Data	13 December 2018 08:00:00	13 December 2018 12:00:00	US Seattle

 

Sponsors

Event	Description
UK/FCO	The UK government department dealing with foreign policy.
WhistleblowersUK	UK group chaired since November 2015 by the former Institute for Statecraft head of security, Tom Lloyd.

 

Related Documents

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:5 July Seminar; Potential guest list for discussion	spooky seminar invitation list	26 February 2016	Integrity Initiative	Seminar with a mix of media, academics and lots of spooks
Document:Avisa Partners Presentation	company presentation	June 2016	Avisa Partners	This is very revealing but more official presentation of the company's influence work. Compare with the dirty tricks in Document:Combatting Russian Disinformation
Document:Beware the Cult of Cadwalladr	blog post	22 January 2022	Craig Murray	The present libel trial between Arron Banks and Carole Cadwalladr is therefore a struggle between two deeply unpleasant people. Cadwalladr’s lies, in my view, are political and still come within the realm of free speech. I support her right to say it, just as I support my right to denounce and expose her as an utterly unprincipled and fraudulent tool of the security services.
Document:Bid for MoD Funding 2017-2018	project proposal	14 March 2017	Integrity Initiative	"Creation of a Europe-wide network of groups who understand the danger of Russian active measures and who can pass the message on to their own decision-makers and public, often using material which we initiate"
Document:Chris Donnelly Paris Brussels May 2016 v2	report	13 December 2018	Chris Donnelly	Chris Donnelly talks to his French II connections. "They think our main target needs to be the parts of the political class and the security structures 'where the rot is'"... "As an independent NGO we can do things they can’t do and national governments can’t do"
Document:Combatting Russian Disinformation	report	June 2016	Avisa Partners	A truly astonishing II document, with a lot of dirty methods. It is written by an established covert French propaganda network, spreading more than a 1000 stories a month, offering to work for II. "our ability to publish articles across hundreds of credible media outlets means that any campaign we undertake will have far more sway than the content published only on state-sponsored outlets RT and Sputnik, and their local few allies."
Document:How To Spot A Twitter Troll	Wikispooks Page	2 July 2019	Craig Murray	Exposure is the simple way to nullify the vast state propaganda programmes on social media
Document:How to spot a Twitter troll	blog post	2 July 2019	Craig Murray	Exposure is the simple way to nullify the vast state propaganda programmes on social media
Document:II Twitter performance January 2018	success analysis	14 March 2017	Chris Donnelly	Our total number of Twitter followers was 328 as of 18th January.
Document:Integrity France	report	25 June 2018	Integrity Initiative	a partial list of II-France members. For complete list, see Integrity Initiative/Cluster/France
Document:Integrity Initiative Budget for the 12 months ending 31 March 2019	Budget and activity plan	2 November 2018	Integrity Initiative	Budget outlining how Integrity Initiative is going to control the information space, and influence policy-makers, specialists and media.
Document:Invoice to MoD for Ukrainian Visit	success analysis	22 November 2017	Chris Donnelly	Invoice from Institute of Statecraft to the Ministry of Defence for Ukrainian visit to London
Document:Monthly Accounts	accounts	22 November 2017	Chris Donnelly	The Monthly Accounts for the Integrity Initiative, somewhat in the startup phase
Document:Muellergate and the Discreet Lies of the Bourgeoisie	Blog post	1 April 2019	Craig Murray	The capacity of the mainstream media repeatedly to promote the myth that Russia caused Clinton’s defeat, while never mentioning what the information was that had been so damaging to Hillary, should be alarming to anybody under the illusion that we have a working “free media”.
Document:Notes from David Leask meeting 27 March 2018	strategy document	27 March 2018	Chris Donnelly	Integrity Initiative convinced Scottish 'fringe' nationalism is a Kremlin plot caused by RT and Sputnik; intends to influence to tie Scotland to NATO, England wants to keep media and political dominance
Document:Novara Media and the Integrity Initiative	web page		Phil Bevin	A critical review of Novara Media and their unlikely connections to the Integrity Initiative
Document:Novichok, Navalny, Nordstream, Nonsense	blog post	3 September 2020	Craig Murray	The US and Saudi Arabia have every reason to instigate a split between Germany and Russia at this time. Navalny is certainly a victim of international politics. That he is a victim of Putin I tend to doubt.
Document:Project Proposal Integrity Initiative 2017-18	budget application and plan	27 April 2017	Chris Donnelly	Budget proposal for a secret influence network that will protect "the Western system of democratic values"..."against attack by those powers who would seek to overturn our system and all it stands for," no less.
Document:Project Title INTEGRITY INITIATIVE Phase II	budget application and plan	27 April 2017	Chris Donnelly	Project application for phase II of Integrity Initiative
Document:The Challenge of Brexit to the UK	strategy document	2 January 2018	Chris Donnelly	"So, if we consider what qualities and characteristics we need in those whom we select for leadership today, in a period of rapid and profound change, in all sorts of institutions – government departments, big companies, the NHS - the conclusion is that we need to look for people who have abilities that suit a wartime environment"... Leadership understands that in a period of tumultuous change you cannot control, you have to command..."
Document:The Institute for Statecraft Expert Team v 3	name list	13 December 2018	Chris Donnelly	biographies of core team members with lots of obscure but interesting former and present employers
Document:The Integrity Initiative Guide to Countering Russian Disinformation	analysis	2 November 2018	Integrity Initiative	A guide to Russian disinformation, an ideological prep guide for dedicated II operatives
Document:The Network of Networks	analysis	30 May 18 JL	Chris Donnelly	A handbook for Integrity Initiative activities, including starting clusters
Document:The Russian Party in France	report	June 2016	Françoise Thom	Everyone in France not following the strict pro-American NATO-line is a "linchpin of the Russian networks" because "we are dealing with a strategy of pre-conquest."
Document:Top 3 deliverables/achievements of phase 1	Wikispooks Page	2 November 2018		An interesting document describing US parts of the network; NATO General Secretary Stoltenberg and other high level contacts;silencing pro-kremlin voices on Serbian TV; Spanish operation to fire Pedro Baños

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References

This page imported content from Working Group on Syria Propaganda and Media on 27 January 2019.
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