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In the days following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, thousands of Twitter accounts shared messages of support for Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.

They tried to deflect criticism by comparing the war to conflicts provoked by Western countries. His comments – along with tweets from other users denouncing him – trended the hashtag #IStandWithPutin on Twitter in various parts of the world.

While some of the accounts are based in Nigeria and South Africa, the researchers said that most of those advertised on Twitter claim to be from India and target their messages to other Indian users.

The prevalence of accounts allegedly owned by Indian users indicates that India’s social media landscape has become a key target in its effort to influence public opinion on the war in Ukraine. Users who said they were from India made up about 11 percent of the hashtag trend in the two weeks after the invasion. During that time, only 0.3 percent were from Russia and 1.6 percent from the United States.

Some of the accounts used fake profile pictures, which raised the investigators’ suspicions. Others garnered thousands of retweets for their pro-Putin posts, despite having few followers and low engagement with the rest of their tweets.

There was no conclusive evidence that they were part of a coordinated influence campaign aimed at changing feelings about the war in India, although the activity suggested that the accounts could be unfounded. A Twitter spokesperson said the company is still investigating.

The challenge of identifying influence campaigns is further complicated by the division of public opinion in India. While some were fiercely opposed to the war, others openly supported Russia and organized marches to show support.

“Russia and India have long-standing and deep security and economic relations,” said Graham Brookie, director of the Atlantic Council’s digital forensic research lab. “If you’re Russia and you’re facing increased global scrutiny, increased global shutdown, you want countries like India to at least avoid efforts to isolate Russia as humanly as possible.”

The death of an Indian student earlier this month in the conflict in Ukraine brought India’s struggle into focus. about 20,000 evacuees citizens of the country at that time invasion of Russia to start. Hundreds of Indian students were stranded in the middle of heavy shelling at the time. Refraining from condemning Russia, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi sought help from Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russia’s local embassy used Twitter Instructing Indian media outlets not using the word “war”, but instead referring to it as a “special military operation” as media outlets in Russia are legally compelled to do. Some Indian Twitter users responded by mocking the embassy, ​​while others scolded local media outlets for incompetence and the need to seek instructions from Russia.

Pro-Russian sentiments prevailed right-wing circles in the United States, False information spread in Russia claiming that Ukrainians organized bombings or bombed their own neighborhoods, and Myths about Ukrainian fortitude It has gone viral on social media platforms. But in India and other countries where social media users have joined the hashtag, pro-Russian narratives have focused on ethno-nationalism and the West’s hypocrisy over war, which has resonated with social media users.

Marc Owen Jones, assistant professor of Middle East studies and digital humanities at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, #IStandWithPutin.

It was unclear whether the accounts promoting pro-Putin messages in India were genuine, but Dr. Jones said that some of the most popular accounts engage in questionable behavior, such as using stock photos as profile pictures or garnering likes and retweets despite having few followers. .

The pro-Russian messages were also reinforced by Twitter users claiming to reside in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. While some supported pro-Russian hashtags, others pointed to examples of what they called Western hypocrisy, such as former President Donald J. Trump’s praise of Putin.

Dr. After Jones published his findings, Twitter suspended more than 100 accounts forcing #IStandWithPutin for “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” A Twitter spokesperson said they were spammers trying to moderate conversations about conflict.

“Since the war in Ukraine began, we’ve removed more than 75,000 accounts for violating our platform manipulation and spam policy,” said Sinéad McSweeney, Twitter’s vice president of global policy. blog post earlier this month. “These accounts represent a wide variety of attempts to manipulate the service, including opportunistic, financially motivated spam, and we do not currently believe they represent a specific, coordinated campaign associated with a government actor.”

However, Dr. Jones said that some of the accounts in India were probably owned by real people. “If you can find enough people to spread a message, real people will join in,” he said. “It’s getting harder to separate organic behavior from inorganic because it’s a network.”

Some right-wing groups in India gave similar messages. An organization called Hindu Sena marched to support Russia in the heart of India’s capital this month. The group’s president, Vishnu Gupta, led the participants, carrying the Russian flags ordered for the event, as well as the saffron flags that are often flown by Hindu nationalists.

More than 300 protesters chanted “War Russia, we stand with you” and “Long live the friendship of India and Russia”.

“Russia has always stood by India and is its best friend. “While America supports Pakistan and does not want any Asian power to rise,” he said. “We don’t believe in war. But it’s happening now, India must go with Russia. We must make our position clear.”

The Russian embassy in India has also used Twitter and Facebook to support conspiracy theories about biological research labs in Ukraine and to pressure the Indian media.

“Many influencers who tend to align with Modi see at least some common cause or part of their point of view being embraced by Putin’s ethno-nationalism,” Mr. Brookie said.

Facebook said it is working with local partners in India to verify the information on its platform.

Indian leaders are carrying out a delicate balancing act between Russia and their home country. largest arms supplierand Ukraine, refraining from voting against Russia at the United Nations. India also sent medical supplies to Ukraine. Despite the sanctions imposed by many Western countries, it is looking for ways to maintain its commercial relations with Russia.

But experts said public opinion about the war could force local politicians to choose a side.

“This is a big, important flashpoint for a truly global competition for knowledge,” said Mr. Brookie. “It’s a turning point in which a number of countries have positioned themselves, including not only Russia but the United States, its allies and partners, but also China.”