Foot Soldiers in a Shadowy Battle Between Russia and the West<br />After Mr. Usovsky managed to orchestrate only a few tiny demonstrations in Prague, Warsaw and other cities, an assistant to Mr. Malofeev demanded in October 2014<br />that Mr. Usovsky produce "a clear, concrete and realistic plan for the coming to power of pro-Russian forces." Mr. Malofeev declined to be interviewed, and his spokeswoman, Nadezhda Novoselova, said the billionaire and his staff had nothing to do with Mr. Usovsky.<br />Jakub Janda, deputy director of European Values, a Western-financed research group in Prague<br />that has tracked Russian influence campaigns, said that Mr. Usovsky seemed so far out of touch with reality that he might even be "a decoy" meant to make people say, "Look, this whole Russia threat thing is just not serious." Please verify you’re not a robot by clicking the box.<br />A resident of Vitebsk, near the Russian border with Belarus, Mr. Usovsky started his operation in 2014, riding a wave of nationalist fervor in Moscow after the annexation of Crimea and the widespread belief among Russia’s political and business elite<br />that united European backing for sanctions against Russia could be quickly dissolved.<br />By ANDREW HIGGINSMAY 28, 2017<br />MELNIK, Czech Republic — Working at his computer, as he does most weekends, on an anti-Western diatribe for a Czech website, Ladislav Kasuka was not sure what to make of the messages<br />that began popping up on his Facebook page, offering him money to organize street protests.<br />Daniel Milo said that is a good case study in Russ<br />For example, Mr. Kasuka, the Czech Stalinist, has appeared regularly in Russian media as a commentator on Czech affairs and geopolitics.
