Sven Svenson, Candace Owens, and Carlos Lopez are among the Western influencers flooding their channels with pro-Russia content.

From Russia with Likes

As Cold War–style propaganda becomes less effective, the Kremlin is getting its message out the 21st-century way: via online influencers

By Andrew Ryvkin

Andrew Tate was smoking a cigar and dancing to Boney M’s 1978 novelty disco hit “Rasputin” with his brother, Tristan, when he announced a forthcoming visit to Moscow. This past June, they were met with a traditional Russian greeting and offered bread and salt. (Think dipping challah in salt during Shabbat, but with a strong hint of Slavic nationalism.) The result of the Tates’ trip was a 40-minute YouTube video in which the controversial brothers visit the Kremlin and other tourist sites and discuss Russian history. Wearing camouflage and body armor, they ride a tank, fire a rocket launcher, and throw grenades from trenches.

That same month, the far-right commentator Candace Owens wrote on X that it would be her distinct honor “to become ‘the bridge’ that unites Christians in the East with Christians in the West.” Aside from apparently ending the Great Schism of 1054, which split Christianity into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, Owens took part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, known as “Putin’s Davos,” where she spoke about family values.