Russian Deepfake Campaign Targets U.S. Midterms With Celebrity Videos
United States
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What Happened
What Happened
Timeline
September 15, 2026
2026 Midterms Deepfake Campaign: Ahead of the November midterms, researchers and groups (including Antibot4navalny) attributed a surge of celebrity deepfakes and fake CNN‑branded reports to Matryoshka/Operation Overload and Storm-1516; clips using stolen footage and Cameo recordings showed actors (e.g., Julia Roberts, Alyson Hannigan, Emma Caulfield, Sarah Jessica Parker, Eric Roberts) attacking Democrats, and AFP was alerted as the operation appeared to be ramping up. Experts warned these low‑effort but widely spread videos signaled which U.S. races and issues Russia intended to target.
July 2024
2024 Kremlin Disinformation Networks: For the 2024 cycle, Kremlin-linked networks such as Storm-1516 and Doppelganger ran large-scale influence operations—distributing fake news sites, doctored videos and targeted social-media narratives—and in July 2024 U.S. authorities seized domains and took down hundreds of accounts tied to a Russian AI bot farm. Intelligence officials warned Russia was using a whole-of-government approach to target voter demographics and amplify divisive narratives.
May 2020
Giuliani-Derkach Influence Campaign: Rudy Giuliani collaborated with pro‑Russia Ukrainian legislator Andriy Derkach—who claimed documents showing Biden received $900,000 from Burisma—culminating in a lengthy December 2019 interview and further releases in May 2020; the Treasury later sanctioned Derkach as an active Russian agent. This effort fed disinformation about Biden ahead of the 2020 election.
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Timeline
September 15, 2026
2026 Midterms Deepfake Campaign: Ahead of the November midterms, researchers and groups (including Antibot4navalny) attributed a surge of celebrity deepfakes and fake CNN‑branded reports to Matryoshka/Operation Overload and Storm-1516; clips using stolen footage and Cameo recordings showed actors (e.g., Julia Roberts, Alyson Hannigan, Emma Caulfield, Sarah Jessica Parker, Eric Roberts) attacking Democrats, and AFP was alerted as the operation appeared to be ramping up. Experts warned these low‑effort but widely spread videos signaled which U.S. races and issues Russia intended to target.
July 2024
2024 Kremlin Disinformation Networks: For the 2024 cycle, Kremlin-linked networks such as Storm-1516 and Doppelganger ran large-scale influence operations—distributing fake news sites, doctored videos and targeted social-media narratives—and in July 2024 U.S. authorities seized domains and took down hundreds of accounts tied to a Russian AI bot farm. Intelligence officials warned Russia was using a whole-of-government approach to target voter demographics and amplify divisive narratives.
May 2020
Giuliani-Derkach Influence Campaign: Rudy Giuliani collaborated with pro‑Russia Ukrainian legislator Andriy Derkach—who claimed documents showing Biden received $900,000 from Burisma—culminating in a lengthy December 2019 interview and further releases in May 2020; the Treasury later sanctioned Derkach as an active Russian agent. This effort fed disinformation about Biden ahead of the 2020 election.
