The building at 55 Savushkina St. on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russia, is unremarkable. It’s four stories high, made of concrete and shares a small parking lot with the apartment building next door.
But if you look a little closer, a few details stick out. For instance, the building is covered in windows, but each one is blocked by heavy drapes. And there are security cameras all over the building.
That’s what you can see from the outside. But what went on inside this building in 2015 has attracted a lot of attention in both U.S. and Russian media. The company that operated inside 55 Savushkina was called the Internet Research Agency. But unofficially, and more commonly, it was known as the “troll factory.”
Hundreds worked here, and 13 people, including a man with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, were recently named in an indictment connected to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Meet The Activist Who Uncovered The Russian Troll Factory Named In The Mueller Probe
Photo: Jolie Myers/NPR
kaeepet