Reportedly Viral USAID Disinformation Video Linked to Russian-Aligned Campaign Known as Matryoshka
A video that reportedly went viral on X in early February 2025 claimed USAID paid celebrities to visit Ukraine. The clip mimicked E! News branding and included a narrator with a British accent. Individuals and organizations named denied any involvement. Researchers attributed the video to Matryoshka (AKA Operation Overload and Storm-1679), an influence campaign suspected of using AI-generated narration and editing, though tool use has not been independently confirmed.
- Date it happened
- 2025-02-07
- Organisation involved
- Storm-1679, Russian-linked disinformation network, Operation Overload, Matryoshka
- Product, system or model
- X (Twitter), Deepfake technology, Synthetic audio generation technology
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