DFC study: IN4S as a key promoter of pro-Russian and pro-Serbian narratives in Montenegro

The Digital Forensic Center published the study "Unbreakable ties or geopolitical strategy", which talks about the influence of Serbia in Montenegro.

You can view the entire study at the link HERE. (https://dfc.me/publikacije/16726/ )
As one of the parts of the publication, the role of the IN4S portal is mentioned, which, according to them, plays a key role in the promotion of pro-Russian and pro-Serbian narratives in Montenegro.

We transmit part of the study in its entirety.
A key role in the promotion of pro-Russian and pro-Serbian narratives in Montenegro is played by the IN4S portal, which, apart from Podgorica, has its editorial offices in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nikšić, North Mitrovica and the Ukrainian Donbass. The IN4S portal is not registered, which means that it is not subject to the legislation of Montenegro, and the imprint lists Felix Savon, a Cuban boxer, as the editor-in-chief. The actual founder and editor-in-chief of the IN4S portal is Gojko Raičević. Raičević was also the head of the NGO No to War - No to NATO and advocated for the organization of a mandatory referendum on Montenegro's entry into NATO77, while on the other hand he acted as a Russian propagandist.
The portal is recognized for spreading misinformation, national and religious intolerance, hate speech, narratives denying the Montenegrin national and cultural identity, targeting the non-governmental sector and civil activists and violating the Media Act and the Anti-Discrimination Act. Numerous articles on that portal affirm war criminals, Vladimir Putin's policy, as well as Russia's aggression against Ukraine, while denying the genocide in Srebrenica.
The IN4S portal affirmatively reports on the policy of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who in 2021 sent a plane of the Government of Serbia so that Gojko Raičević could be transferred to the covid hospital in Batajnica for treatment.
In the report of the US State Department, which presented the pillars of the Russian disinformation campaign, the IN4S portal was marked as part of the propaganda ecosystem of the Russian disinformation campaign. DFC previously wrote that IN4S was founded in 2009 and that, in addition to Gojko Raičević and Vladimir Božović, the current rector of the University of Montenegro is among the founders.
In 2017, Vladimir Božović and Gojko Raičević stayed together in Moscow, where they attended the Plenary Session of the First Convocation of the Assembly of the Peoples of Eurasia and the VII Convocation of the Assembly of the Peoples of Russia.
Vojin Grubač, columnist of the IN4S portal, Marko Kovačević, president of the municipality of Nikšić and Mlađan Đorđević, former advisor to the President of Serbia Boris Tadić and secretary of the Council for Serbs in the Region and Diaspora, also attended the same meeting.
In May 2023, some Moldovan media reported certain information in their articles about the alleged connections of Gojko Raičević with Russian intelligence structures through the placement of commissioned texts through the IN4S portal. Those media published a photo from 2016 in which Raičević is allegedly in the company of Russian agents, among whom is Ana Bogačeva, a member of the Internet Research Agency, who is wanted by the FBI for illegal interference in the US elections.
Moldovan media mentions Igor Damjanović, correspondent of IN4S and various Russian publications, Vladimir Božović, rector of the University of Montenegro, and Dražen Živković, founder and editor of the Borba portal, among Gojko Raičević's associates.
The Russian propaganda mission was intensified by the IN4S portal at the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, in February 2022, when fake news and narratives glorifying Russian power and justifying the already planned invasion of the sovereign state of Ukraine were published.
Information disseminated through various IN4S platforms is precisely and consistently harmonized with the positions of official Moscow. The key man who distributes Russian propaganda in Montenegro through the IN4S portal, which comes directly from Russian institutions and media, is Igor Damjanović.
On February 16, 2023, he and the priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Mijajlo Backović, attended a meeting at the Russian Embassy in Podgorica, after which he left for Russia. In addition to IN4S, Damjanović also reported on events from the front for the Serbian media Alo and Happy TV. After the Facebook platform suspended his profile for a certain period and prevented the publication of contentious content, he opened the Telegram channel Rat Live, which has over 20,000 users.
Igor Damjanović stayed with the Russian army on the field, where he was awarded the Patriot of Russia medal by Colonel Sedoj, battalion commander Yevgeny Rodionov, for his efforts in objectively reporting on the situation at the Front.
During 2015 and 2016, Igor Damjanović wrote articles for the Russian portals Katehon and Geopolitica.ru, which were identified in the US State Department report as part of the so-called propaganda ecosystem of the Russian disinformation campaign. In addition, Damjanović is also the founder of the Immortal Regiment movement in Montenegro, which was formed on the model of the international, civil-patriotic movement for the preservation of personal memory of the generations from the Second World War, which was founded in February 2014 in Russia.
The activities of IN4S and Igor Damjanović are an obvious example of Russian malignant influence and propaganda that directly affect and degrade the Euro-Atlantic path of Montenegro. In this case too, there was no reaction of the competent authorities of the state of Montenegro to such action.
The pro-Serbian and pro-Russian portal IN4S often publishes insults and provocations addressed to national minorities or their political representatives. In this way, that portal participates in a campaign aimed at polarization and long-term collapse of society and the civic concept of Montenegro. Insults directed at Albanians and Croats in Montenegro from that portal are not met with reactions from Montenegrin institutions.
On the other hand, the IN4S portal and its editor Gojko Raičević are supported by Goran Danilović, leader of United Montenegro and director of the Agency for Quality Assurance of Higher Education, Milivoje Brković, councilor in the Assembly of the Capital City, priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Mijajlo Backović, Prava Montenegro and its leader Marko Milačić, the Bunt site, which is recognized for spreading misinformation, anti-Western narratives, hate speech and calls to violence. These are precisely the channels through which soft power is spread, which does not have to turn into concrete violence, but which significantly affects the increase of tensions in society.
In addition to direct support for that portal, expressed in individual cases, legitimacy was also given to it by certain Montenegrin officials visiting its platforms.
Among them were Dritan Abazović, Zdravko Krivokapić and Milojko Spajić. IN4S was helped and encouraged for its activities by the public state enterprises Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) and the Montenegrin Electricity Distribution Center (CEDIS), which signed contracts with that advertising portal during 2021 and 2022.
In this way, the money of Montenegrin citizens is allocated to a portal that is not registered in accordance with Montenegrin legislation and that often violates the Code of Journalists of Montenegro.