Russia trying to hide facts of military aggression in social media - NYT

Thus, the Russian authorities are trying to narrow opportunities for their own propaganda, the report said.

"In recent years, pictures, videos and social media posts put online by Russian servicemen contradicted the government's claim that its troops were not fighting in eastern Ukraine and undercut the official line that Russia's role in the Syrian civil war was limited," the report reads.

At the same time, attention is drawn to the fact that in 2014, multiple reports, relying on social media accounts of soldiers returned from Ukraine, revealed that Russia used regular troops to aid pro-Moscow separatists. In addition, after a Malaysia Airlines passenger flight was shot down over Ukraine, journalists from the investigative group Bellingcat used online photos to track the movement into Ukraine of the Russian anti-aircraft missile system that destroyed the plane.

At the same time, the bill's explanatory note specifically mentions the actions of Russian military in Syria.

"Information, shared by soldiers on the Internet or mass media, is used for informational and psychologic pressure and in separate cases to form a biased assessment of Russia's state policy," said the note, signed by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov.

In this context, the report says that it is unlikely that Russia will manage to restrict the use of smartphones among military in similar missions, since it is impossible to control so many people.