Yveneny Prigozhin’s wartime atrocities propelled the brutal mercenary into the limelight. But Prigozhin—who was as soon as Russian president Vladimir Putin’s chef and a small-time criminal—additionally held a title as one of many world’s largest disinformation peddlers. For years, Prigozhin operated the infamous Internet Research Agency, a Russian troll farm that meddled in US elections and beyond.

When Prigozhin instantly died in a mysterious plane crash on August 23, round two months after he led his Wagner Group mercenaries in a failed mutiny towards Putin, the trolls didn’t cease posting. Instead, in response to a brand new evaluation shared with WIRED, some continued to point out their assist for him.

In the times instantly after his loss of life, a coordinated community of pro-Prigozhin accounts on X (previously often known as Twitter) pushed messages saying that the warlord was a hero and good for Russia, regardless of the Wagner Group’s failed insurrection towards Putin in June. These messages additionally blamed the West for the airplane crash and mentioned that the Wagner Group would proceed working in Africa.

“It was not profitable for Putin to kill Prigozhin. PMC [private military company] carry a lot of weight in Africa, and Prigozhin skillfully managed it, despite his ‘character quirks,’” one account posted on X. “Prigozhin served for the good of Russia, remained faithful to his military oath, and was killed by saboteurs, or terrorists mined the plane,” one other speculated. “In short, he just ditched his phone and disappeared into the sunset, just like in a typical action movie,” a 3rd posted.

The organized accounts have been all recognized and shared with WIRED by Antibot4Navalny, an nameless group of volunteers who observe Russian-language affect operations on X. An individual behind the group, whom WIRED granted anonymity on account of security considerations, says they began inspecting the posts of suspected X accounts after the crash once they “noticed that Prigozhin is surprisingly covered in an exclusively positive light.” The group discovered 30 accounts pushing pro-Prigozhin narratives, they are saying.

The exercise could possibly be an indication that Prigozhin remained accountable for the Internet Research Agency troll manufacturing facility till he died, the group claims, including that it echoes related exercise they beforehand noticed. Reports have said that after the tried June rebellion, Prigozhin-owned information web sites and the troll manufacturing facility have been being shut down or on the lookout for new homeowners. “Domestically, there was a lot of debate whether or not Prigozhin lost his control over the troll factory as one of the immediate aftermaths of the mutiny,” the Antibot4Navalny member says.

While the posts on X are solely a tiny snapshot of social media exercise, they spotlight how Russian-linked propaganda has modified because the Internet Research Agency interfered in US politics in 2016, specialists say. The Russian misinformation and disinformation trade has developed right into a wealthy ecosystem of state-backed media, large Telegram channels, and extra standard social media posts. Millions of individuals comply with so-called military bloggers and war journalists on Telegram—a few of these channels are linked to the Russian state, whereas others are aligned with Pirgozhin and the Wagner Group. But all can muddy the waters or repeat set strains.