The Internet Research Agency ( IRA ; Russian : Агентство интернет-исследований , romanized : Agentstvo internet-issledovaniy ), also known as Glavset (Russian: Главсеть ) [1] and known in Russian Internet slang as the Trolls from Olgino (Russian: ольгинские тролли ), is a Russian company engaged in online propaganda and influence operations on behalf of Russian business and political interests. [2] It is linked to Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin and based in Saint Petersburg , Russia.
The agency was first mentioned in 2016, when a Russian journalist Andrey Zakharov published his investigation into Prigozhin’s "troll factory". [3] The January 2017 report issued by the United States Intelligence Community – Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections – described the agency as a troll farm : "The likely financier of the so-called Internet Research Agency of professional trolls located in Saint Petersburg is a close ally of [Vladimir] Putin with ties to Russian intelli
The agency has employed fake accounts registered on major social networking sites , [4] discussion boards, online newspaper sites, and video hosting services to promote the Kremlin's interests in domestic and foreign policy including Ukraine and the Middle East as well as attempting to influence the 2016 United States presidential election . More than 1,000 employees reportedly worked in a single building of the agency in 2015.