How Russia is the real winner of leaked intelligence dossier about President-elect Donald Trump

That’s according to those familiar with Russian attempts to destabilise and discredit opponents who say regardless of the veracity, the recent dossier serves one purpose.

“The Russians have won on almost every account,” said Jonathan Eyal, the Director of International Security Studies at UK think tank, RUSI.

“Regardless of how the story develops, they have won. They have made a mockery of the US political process, [shown] that much-vaunted American democracy is no different from anything else, that people get bought and sold, that politicians make cynical deals. On that point [Putin] has succeeded.”

Mr Eyal said the current debate over an unverified dossier that has seen the President-elect lash out at intelligence agencies, Democrats and the media has allowed “pygmy” Russia to gain out-size influence on US politics.

“[Putin] has succeeded in influencing elections in the world’s only superpower. He has succeeded in making himself 10 feet tall. He is the subject of debate in Washington,” he said.

It’s a view echoed on the streets of Moscow by many, according to former aide to the President Natalya Pelevina. She told Sky News that Mr Trump is one of the “most talked about people in Russia” with many who believe Putin has succeeded in securing his candidacy in the White House.

“Some people, including some politicians in Russia, have said exactly that, believe it or not,” she said. “That ‘we finally conquered America’, so there is that, crazy to me, point of view out there, but it does exist.”

Mr Eyal said while the document remains “inherently unverifiable”, it is consistent with Russia’s “kompromat” strategy — of storing information in order to release it to cause maximum damage.

“The idea of creating compromising material and storing it for future use; this is what the Russian intelligence services have been doing for decades,” he said.

While it’s likely Russia did have some information on Trump as a business leader, he claims the report could, paradoxically, make life more difficult for Russia.

“That doesn’t mean to say Trump is the Manchurian Candidate. It doesn’t mean to say he was groomed for years to be Russia’s President of the United States,” he said.

“It will make it far more difficult for people like [Rex Tillerson, the proposed Secretary of State], or the President-elect himself to deal with Russia. They will have to walk on eggshells.”

“Just imagine any trip to Moscow he will undertake, or any discussions. They will immediately be interpreted as pay-off for previous relations. He’s far more hindered than any president.”

For Liz Wahl, who sensationally quit her job at Russia Today live on air after becoming disillusioned with the disinformation tactics of Kremlin-backed media, the recent election has all the hallmarks of the Russian propaganda machine.

She was shocked to see some of the same tactics spread to the US media and watch them spark a crisis of trust in the democratic process during the recent election.

“What happens with Russian media is that they try to create a lack of trust in everything. That nobody is trustworthy and everything is just a matter of perspective,” she said.

“Already we’re seeing the President-elect using the very Putinesque tactic of manipulating the truth and moulding reality to what he wants it to be. I think it’s a really dangerous thing.”

The Washington-based journalist has first-hand experience of becoming a direct target, claiming she was the victim of a torrent of misinformation from two authors who said she was trying to “start WW3”.

“They turned out something fake and pushed it into the discourse. This is what they do, it muddies the water of reality so people don’t really know what’s true, who to trust so people just shrug their shoulders and say ‘we don’t know what’s going on’”.

She fears it’s a tactic that we will see more of in 2017 with critical elections in France, Germany and the Netherlands that could shape the political future of the eurozone.

“[Russia] is going to keep doing what they’ve been doing, try and get away with what they can get away with … Using fake stories and trolls and social media and website to try and amplify extremist voices and just create turmoil.”

victoria.craw@news.com.au