Russia has long been present in the Western Balkans, raising numerous questions about the country’s strategic goals in the region, and the mechanisms it deploys to achieve them. The lecture focuses on the proxy actors of the Russian Federation, and the channels and narratives they use to transmit Russian messages to the Balkan states. It seeks to unpack their effects at the levels of both state and society, by looking at foreign policy changes and responses by the local population and elites.