By EUvsDisinfo
From Texas to Alberta to Catalonia, the Kremlin amplifies separatist causes abroad while jailing those who voice similar ideas inside Russia.
The Kremlin routinely accuses other countries of instigating “colour revolutions” and backing separatist movements. Given the Kremlin’s well-documented flair for projection, it comes as little surprise that Moscow engages in exactly the kind of behaviour it denounces by backing separatist movements in Western countries, both openly and through foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) campaigns.
Reports of the Kremlin’s fondness for Western separatist movements go way back. In 2015, a year after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Texan separatists were spotted at a far-right conference in St. Petersburg, prompting an investigation into their ties to Russian officials. Back then, a Russian newspaper interviewed one such activist, and FIMI bots amplified the interview with calls for a ‘Free Texas’. The campaign never quite ended: in early 2024, the conflict between the state of Texas and the Biden administration once again prompted comments from Russian officials – the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev wrote that he would be “rooting for Texas” if it decided to secede, while MP Sergei Mironov supported the calls for “Texit”, tweeting that Russia was “ready to help with the independence referendum”. At the same time, an army of bots exploited the crisis by boosting calls for civil war in the U.S. in coordinated campaigns both on Telegram and Twitter/X.
Another Russian-backed disinformation campaign – this time supporting the Alberta secession movement in Canada – dates back to 2019. In 2026, the campaign seems to have resurfaced, with many pro-Kremlin Telegram channels reposting unsubstantiated reports of Alberta secessionists apparently meeting the Trump administration. An anonymous, pro-Kremlin, Telegram channel recently claimed that up to a half of Alberta’s citizens supported secession, and accused the Canadian authorities of hypocrisy for not allowing them their freedom, and the Pravda network, a well-known FIMI machine, disseminated an AI-generated video promoting the schedule for an Alberta secessionist rally on Telegram. The Alberta government’s cyberthreat investigation unit, CyberAlberta, has reported that the Pravda network has been consistently targeting Canada from at least late 2024.
Europe as a long-term testing ground for separatist narratives
In Europe, Russian efforts have been even more persistent. The Spanish government confirmed that Russian-based groups had tried to spread ‘misinformation’ relating to the independence referendum in the autonomous region of Catalonia, in order to destabilise Spain.
In 2017, British experts reported a disinformation campaign attempting to claim that the results of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum were rigged in favour of the pro-UK side – and although they didn’t find any direct proof of the Kremlin’s involvement, pro-Kremlin accounts boosted the fraud accusations. Russian FIMI campaigns to influence the UK’s Brexit referendum have been well documented, and the later assessment of these efforts left open a possibility that this Russian-led FIMI campaign could have had an impact on the vote.
Sovereignty as a weapon, repression as policy
In the post-Soviet space, creating and sustaining breakaway regions is one of Moscow’s preferred tools of destabilisation. In Moldova, the Russian-backed enclave of Transnistria serves as a platform for influence operations, amplifying Kremlin narratives and exerting political pressure on Chisinau. A similar approach has been used in Georgia, where South Ossetia functions as an instrument of leverage over Tbilisi. These territories operate both as frozen conflicts and as active instruments of Russian influence.
The Kremlin is also exploiting fears of similar scenarios in other countries. In Estonia, this has taken the form of a disinformation campaign targeting the border town of Narva, where a majority of the population is ethnically Russian. The campaign began on 18 February 2026, when groups on social networks started calling for the creation of a ‘People’s Republic of Narva,’ echoing the separatist enclaves established in Eastern Ukraine following the annexation of Crimea. An Estonian newspaper investigated the group more closely and concluded that the operation had no real support, and that it appeared to be a FIMI campaign rather than a genuine, organic movement.
While Moscow actively engages in FIMI campaigns to support secessionist movements in countries it perceives as hostile, a slightest hint of separatist of national revival within the Russian Federation is met with severe repression. Russian law makes the public expression of support for separatism a criminal offence, punishable by up to five years in prison. It’s no coincidence that the law was adopted in 2014, shortly after the annexation of Crimea: it allows the authorities to persecute those who publicly oppose Russia’s occupation of the peninsula, like the Crimean Tatar activist Ilmi Umerov, who was sentenced to two years in prison for making what the court described as “public calls to violate the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation”. In 2025, the Russian Supreme Court designated the Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum and its 172 regional member organisations “terrorist,” citing their “promotion of anti-Russian ideas about the illegal secession of territories from our country.”
Separatism as a tool of destabilisation
These cases show a clear Kremlin playbook. Separatist movements abroad are encouraged and amplified when they help weaken countries Russia sees as rivals. Inside Russia, even mild expressions of regional identity or political autonomy are treated as serious threats to the state. This contrast is deliberate and consistent.
Russia’s talk of sovereignty and territorial integrity is pragmatic rather than principled. It is used to justify repression at home and to destabilise countries abroad. The double standard is obvious, and it shows that the Kremlin views separatism as a useful tool overseas, and an unacceptable risk within its own borders.
By EUvsDisinfo
