Monday 2 May 2022 The Guardian •
15cannot be won with 30 or 100 more
anti- aircraft systems.”
Melnyk acknowledged that Ger-
many had taken in a large number of
refugees from Ukraine, including his
own mother-in-law. Offi cially the fi g-
ure is just under 400,000, according
to German border police, although
the real number is believed to be
much higher as they are not required
to register and can be in Germany
without a visa for 90 days.
“I am grateful to Germany for
every help it gives. But we’re talking
about life and death in Ukraine, and
the survival of my nation,” he said.
As debate raged among policy-
makers in Germany as to when and
whether Germany can become inde-
pendent from Russian gas supplies,
the news agency DPA reported that
the government was planning to
support EU plans for a Russian oil
embargo, as part of a sixth round of
sanctions about to be announced by
the bloc, despite opposition from
Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Spain,
Italy and Greece.
Germany has already reduced its
dependence on Russian gas from 55%
to 35% since the start of the war, but
full independence is not expected
to be reached until 2024, Robert
Habeck , the economics minister,
has said.Robert Booth
Social aff airs correspondentRussia’s online trolling operation is
becoming increasingly decentralised
and is gaining “incredible traction”
on TikTok, with misinformation
aimed at sowing doubt over events in
Ukraine, a US researcher has warned.
Darren Linvill , a Clemson Univer-
sity professor who has been studying
the Kremlin-linked Internet Research
Agency troll farm operation since
2017, said it was succeeding in creat-
ing more authentic-seeming posts as
it sought to avoid detection.
Clemson’s Media Forensics Hub
has identifi ed the sharing of faked
fact-checking posts and accounts
that amplify disinformation by
linking between platforms such as
Instagram, TikTok and Telegram as
tactics used by the agency which it
now believes is operating across dif-
ferent locations.
Yesterday the government claimed
it ha d identifi ed a former factory in
St Petersburg as a new base for troll-
ing operations “ ruthlessly targeting
politicians and audiences across a
number of countries including the
UK, South Africa and India ”.
The Foreign Office cited gov-
ernment-funded research, which
it has not published, that report-
edly shows paid staff in Russia are
“using Telegram to actively recruit
and co ordinate new supporters
who then target the social mediaRichard LuscombeJoe Biden’s $33bn (£26bn) request to
Congress for more aid for Ukraine is
likely to receive swift approval from
lawmakers, a senior Republican said
yesterday, as the House speaker,
Nancy Pelosi, made a surprise visit
to the war-riven country.
The president on Thursday had
asked for the money for military and
humanitarian support for Ukraine as
it fi ghts to repulse the Russian inva-
sion now in its third month.
Michael McCaul, a Texas Republi-
can and ranking member of the House
foreign aff airs committee, went on
ABC’s This Week with George Steph-
anopoulous and said he expected the
chamber to look favourably on the
request in the coming weeks.
McCaul’s comments came whileprofi les of Kremlin critics – spamming
them with pro-Putin and pro-war
comments ”.
It was reported that targets have
included Boris Johnson’s social
media platforms as well as social
media accounts of bands and musi-
cians including Daft Punk, David
Guetta and Ti ësto. The government
said it had shared the research with
the social media platforms.
It said the Russian operation was
searching for “organic content”
posted by genuine users consistent
with its messaging, and then work-
ing to amplify these messages.
“This means that provided the
content they post is not too off en-
sive they are unlikely to be subject
to de platforming interventions,” an
offi cial said.
Liz Truss, the foreign secretary,
said: “We cannot allow the Kremlin
and its shady troll farms to invade
our online spaces with their lies
about Putin’s illegal war. The UK
government has alerted interna-
tional partners and will continue to
work closely with allies and media
platforms to undermine Russian
information operations.”
Twitter said since the start of the
war in Ukraine it has removed more
than 100,000 accounts for viola-
tions of its platform manipulation
and spam policy. It has labelled or
removed 50,000 pieces of content.
TikTok and Meta, which operates
Facebook and Instagram, have been
approached for comment.Troll farms
Russians
‘spreading lies
about Putin’s
illegal war’
US aid
Biden’s $33bn
request set
for approval
Pelosi led a congressional delegation
to Kyiv to meet the Ukrainian pres-
ident, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The
House speaker promised on behalf
of the US: “We are here until victory
is won.”
McCaul was asked if he believed
Congress would quickly pass Biden’s
requested package, which includes
$20bn in military aid, $8.5bn in
economic aid to Kyiv, and $3bn in
humanitarian relief.
“Yes, I do,” McCaul said. “Time is
of the essence. The next two to three
weeks are going to be very pivotal and
very decisive in this war. And I don’t
think we have a lot of time to waste. I
wish we had [Biden’s request] a little
bit sooner, but we have it now.”
McCaul said he believed Repub-
licans, who have supported the
Democratic president’s previous
fi nancial requests for Ukraine, might
have acted more expediently if they
held the House majority. The cham-
ber is not sitting during the coming
week , delaying a vote on the package.
“If I were speaker for a day, I’d call
Congress back into session, back into
work,” he said. “Every day we don’t
send them more weapons is a day
where more people will be killed and
a day where they could lose this war.
I think they can win it. But we have to
give them the tools to do it.”▲ Liz Truss: ‘We cannot allow the
Kremlin to invade our online spaces’rating , saying: “You should notice
opinion polls but you should not
make your actions dependent on
them. Especially regarding ques-
tions of war and peace, this would
be immensely dangerous .”
According to the polling institute
Insa, 54% of Germans are unhappy
with Scholz’s record.
The chancellor has been in offi ce
for just under fi ve months. He found
himself plunged early on into the
dilemma faced by almost every gov-
ernment leader since the second
world war – having to tread a thin line
between Germany assuming interna-
tional responsibilities and avoiding
accusations both at home and abroad
that its actions might drag Europe
into another war.
Melnyk, who has himself drawn
criticism within Germany for his
complaints about what he has repeat-
edly described as the country’s lack of
decisive action, said that the Gepard
anti-aircraft guns promised last week
were insuffi cient and too old.
“The direction is the right one, but
of course they are not enough. In par-
ticular we’re lacking ammunition for
the Gepards ... and also they are 40
years old. To defeat Russia we need
the most modern Germany weap-
onry,” he said, also speaking to Bild.
H is criticism was directed at “the
▼ Two women in Lviv sit by the grave
of a Ukrainian soldier killed in the
Russian invasion
PHOTOGRAPH: LEON NEAL/GETTY‘Especially regarding
war and peace, it
would be dangerous
to make your actions
dependent on polls’Olaf Scholz
Chancellorentire German political class”, he
said, accusing Germany of being
“very wrapped up in itself ” and urg-
ing it to “at last become aware of its
enormous historical responsibility ”.
Melnyk listed the specifi c arms
he said Ukraine needed Germany to
deliver. “We want the speedy export
of 88 Leopard tanks , 100 Marder
armoured personnel carriers, self-
propelled howitzers and much
more. We are experiencing the big-
gest war in Europe for 80 years. It