Disinformation update: Storm-1516 almost tunnel-focused on Armenia
Storm-1516 distribution expands to Facebook ads, in run-up to the parliamentary election in Armenia Storm-1516 are intensifying their campaigns and more
Special Highlights
Social Design Agency leak points to Storm-1516 coordination with the Presidential Administration
The documents and communications from the recent leak from the Social Design Agency published by X user d347h60dd355 point to Storm-1516 coordination with the Presidential Administration (PA), and may indicate a degree of coordination between GRU and PA.
Boys are back in town: Storm-1516 and Facebook ads
In its day, Prigozhin’s “Internet Research Agency” (IRA) caused quite a stir due to its attempted interference in the 2016 US presidential election, when the troll factory actively used Facebook ads to spread disinformation aimed at the American audience. Later reported by Facebook, IRA also placed Facebook ads targeting Russian-speaking audiences in Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan. Storm-1516, which is in some ways one of the products of Prigozhin’s troll factory, typically used Facebook advertising sparingly. However, the group has recently decided to return to its roots, possibly due to the softening of moderation policies and anti-disinformation efforts on many American social media platforms.
In the run-up to the parliamentary election in Hungary, Storm-1516 operators began using Facebook ads to promote Storm-1516 narratives to the Hungarian audience in their local language, which was first noticed by Lakmusz. With the Hungarian campaigns Storm-1516 operators typically used English-language fake websites to promote narratives to the global audience via X, and Facebook ads with links to Hungarian-language fake websites to reach the local audience.
Storm-1516’s campaign against Armenia follows a similar pattern, though some of the X distribution links point directly to the Armenian-language websites. Additionally, at least one disinformation campaign targeting Ukraine in English was promoted via Facebook ads, suggesting that this distribution channel will likely be used more widely in the future.
Storm-1516 campaigns
Armenia
Parliamentary elections in Armenia are scheduled for June 7, 2026. Storm-1516 began preparing for them last spring. The initial campaigns aimed to discredit Prime Minister Pashinyan and other representatives of the country’s current government. During the same period, a conflict erupted between the Armenian government and the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), which Storm-1516 also took advantage of. Subsequently, against the backdrop of Armenia’s improving relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey and the country’s course toward distancing itself from Russia’s sphere of influence, the Storm-1516 campaign shifted its focus to narratives of Armenia’s “sell off” to Turkey and Azerbaijan, while continuing their campaign to discredit Pashinyan personally.
Unlike in Hungary, our team initially did not observe a significant use of Facebook for Storm-1516 campaign promotion, but it has become more prevalent in recent weeks. Earlier, fip discovered a Facebook profile “Lili Aleksanyan”, which promotes Storm-1516 and R-FBI narratives. Our team also discovered another profile, “Armenia Current Affairs” that promotes materials from the fake media websites: armenpress[.]am, yerevantimes[.]am, mekhaban[.]am and haymitq[.]am.
In addition to Storm-1516, the Social Design Agency (SDA), which closely cooperates with the Presidential Administration (PA), also prepared for the Armenian elections. As The Insider reports, based on the leaked documents, SDA specifically created the news website erevan[.]one and the “self-populating” Wikipedia clone spyurk[.]cyou. The article also mentions the “Wyoming Star” newspaper, whose print distribution was previously reported by Armenian media, which identified a Saint Petersburg resident being behind the newspaper’s distribution in Armenia. Also reported by The Insider, Alexander Ionov, a longtime FSB agent, is behind one of the newspaper’s authors. Another Russian state-aligned influence operation, “Matryoshka”, is also targeting Armenia and has published several hundred fake videos about Armenia and Pashinyan since the fall of 2025.
Reported by Reuters, the alleged Russian plan to import 100 000 Armenians living in Russia to vote against Pashinyan. Even though the plan seems unrealistic at the alleged scale, some such efforts are underway. Mika Badalyan, who is currently residing in Russia and serves on the council of “ANO Eurasia”, an obscure entity associated with a fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, is offering to purchase tickets for people to vote in the election. Ilan Shor was also deeply involved in Russia’s attempts at election interference in Moldova. While residing in Armenia, Badalyan actively collaborated with Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian “soft-power” organisation that is also often used as a cover for intelligence operations. Also promoted by Badalyan is an obscure website, vochtrkatsmane[.]ug, whose name translates to “No to Turkification”. The website also offers an option to subscribe to a Telegram bot as a “backup channel for sharing information about elections”. Although it’s insufficient for a definitive attribution, the website is hosted on the same server as “Foreign Combatants” project, which is linked to Rybar. The server may belong to some sort of bulletproof hosting, as it also hosts some obscure casino and crypto websites.
(FAKE) Pashinyan is preparing to sell strategic Armenian agricultural enterprises to private Turkish companies
The campaign was launched around April 7 and promotes a false narrative that Pashinyan is preparing to sell strategic Armenian agricultural enterprises to private Turkish companies. It also links to a publication by Okay Deprem in “Veryansin TV”.
(FAKE) Pashinyan cancelled the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day events and ordered to convert the Armenian Genocide Museum into the museum of history of Armenia
The campaign was launched around April 20 and promotes a false narrative that Pashinyan cancelled the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day events and ordered to convert the Armenian Genocide Museum into the museum of history of Armenia. It also links to a publication by Okay Deprem in “Veryansin TV”. According to fip, the story was also promoted through a publication on a fake media website meknaban[.]am and Facebook profile “Lili Aleksanyan”.
(FAKE) Armenia agreed to host US airforce in Armenia for strikes against Iran
The campaign was launched around April 24 and includes a fabricated screenshot of Donald Trump’s post, claiming that the post was shortly deleted. The campaign promotes a false narrative that Armenia agreed to host US airforce in Armenia for strikes against Iran.
(FAKE) Pashinyan arranged a deal to sell Armenian public television company and TRBN broadcasting network to a Turkish media holding
The campaign was launched around April 29 and promotes a false narrative that Pashinyan arranged a deal to sell Armenian public television company and TRBN broadcasting network to a Turkish media holding. It also links to a publication by Okay Deprem in “dikgazete”.
Additional fact checking and analysis may be found in a publication by fip.
(FAKE) Armenia agreed to establish a Turkish military base in Armenia, which would be operated by the Azerbaijani personnel
The campaign was launched around May 10 and promotes a false narrative that Armenia agreed to establish a Turkish military base in Armenia, which would be operated by the Azerbaijani personnel and that the alleged deal was brokered by Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The video associated with the campaign is using the branding of “DRM News” media outlet.
(FAKE) Pashinyan groped Emmanuel Macron when they jointly delivered a speech during a concert
The campaign was launched around May 15 and promotes a false narrative through a fabricated video that Pashinyan groped Emmanuel Macron when they jointly delivered a speech during a concert. fip established that the narrative was also promoted through the fake media websites yerevantimes[.]am and meknaban[.]am. Our team was able to establish that the story was also promoted thorugh the Facebook ads via “Armenia Current Affairs” profile with a link to yerevantimes[.]am and received close to 500 comments.
(FAKE) Pashinyan is using EAEU funds to finance his election campaign, plans to raise the retirement age and to cut pensions
The Storm-1516/R-FBI campaign was launched around May 16 and promotes a false narrative that Pashinyan is using EAEU funds allocated for digitalisation to finance his election campaign and plans to raise the retirement age and reduce pensions to cover for the budget deficit.
(FAKE) Armenian government is implementing a housing program along the Azerbaijani border to house 600 000 Azerbaijanis
The campaign was launched around May 19 and promotes a false narrative that the Armenian government is implementing a housing program along the Azerbaijani border to house 600 000 Azerbaijanis. It also links to a publication by Okay Deprem in “dikgazete”.
(FAKE) Pashinyan is HIV positive and has hidden his status since 2010 citing the alleged prison documents
The campaign was launched around May 21 and promotes a false narrative that Pashinyan is HIV positive and has hidden his status since 2010 citing the alleged prison documents. The video associated with the campaign is using the branding of an Armenian news outlet “CIVILNET”. According to the “CIVILNET” reporting, the material was also promoted through yerkir24[.]am and armflash[.]am fake media websites.
(FAKE) Armenian election commission developed a software solution "Curtain" for election surveillance
The campaign was launched around May 22 and promotes a false narrative that the Armenian election commission developed a software solution “Curtain” for election surveillance, which also allows the modification of the election results. The campaign was promoted with a link to a publication on haymitq[.]am fake media website. Additionally, the story was also promoted thorugh the Facebook ads via “Armenia Current Affairs” profile with a link to to the same fake media website and received more than 100 comments.
Additional fact checking and analysis may be found in a publication by Factor.
(FAKE) Pashinyan sexually assaulted his press secretary
The campaign was launched on May 26 and promotes a false narrative that the Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan sexually assaulted his press secretary Nazeli Baghdasaryan. The video associated with the campaign is also using the branding of “Euro News”.
Additional fact checking and analysis may be found in a publication by fip.
(FAKE) France deployed 800 foreign legion soldiers to Armenia
The campaign was launched on May 27 and promotes a false narrative that France sent 800 foreign legion soldiers to Armenia in order to protect Nikol Pashinyan and to evacuate him to France if necessary. The video associated with the campaign is also using the branding of the British public broadcaster “BBC”.
(FAKE) Armenia has agreed to accept up to 250 000 Muslim refugees from EU countries
The campaign was launched on May 28 and promotes a false narrative that Armenia has agreed to accept up to 250 000 Muslim refugees from EU countries in order to receive EU candidate status. The campaign links to a publication in a Turkish media "Ulusal", which associated with "Vatan" party. The publication was authored by a fake journalist "Aziz Yerganian".
Additionally, the story was also promoted through the Facebook ads via “Armenia Live” profile with a link to a publication on yerevandailynews[.]am.
Additional fact checking and analysis may be found in a publication by fip.
(FAKE) Nikol Pashinyan reshuffled his cabinet to meet the alleged "diversity requirements" posed by EU
The campaign was launched on May 28 and promotes a false narrative that Nikol Pashinyan reshuffled his cabinet to meet the alleged "diversity requirements" posed by EU. The campaign also links to a publication on a fake copycat website thepinknews[.]lgbt, which copies the website of an online newspaper “Pink News”, which is focused on LGBTQ+ community.
Hungary and the election aftermath
Even though the Storm-1516 disinformation campaigns targeting Magyar and Tisza got intensive in the run up to the election day, no campaigns were observed on the election day and following the victory by Tisza and Magyar.
(FAKE) Magyar is Preparing a coup together with the "European People's Party" in the case if Tisza will lose the election
The campaign was launched around April 2 and promotes a false narrative that Magyar was Preparing a coup together with the “European People’s Party” in the case if Tisza will lose the election. The campaign was promoted with a link to a publication on a fake media website 24veritas[.]com.
(FAKE) Magyar promised to bring back the military conscription in Hungary once he gets elected
The campaign was launched around April 4 and promotes a false narrative that Magyar promised to bring back the military conscription in Hungary once he gets elected. The campaign links to publication on a fake copycat website magyartisza2026[.]com, which copies the Tisza campaign website.
(FAKE) Magyar's former wife published memoire which claims that Magyar has a severe alcohol addiction
The campaign was launched around April 7 and promotes a false narrative that Magyar's former wife published memoire which claims that Magyar has a severe alcohol addiction. It also painted a few alleged incidents: one involving masturbation in front of their children, another is claiming that Magyar microwaved their puppy. It also links to a publication on a fake media website magyarhirek24[.]com. However absurd the allegations, the campaign was relatively successful as it was echoed by Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Poland’s opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, even though the party’s spokesperson later admitted that the information was false.
(FAKE) Ukraine is preparing to seize control of the Hungarian government building in case if Tisza loses the election
The campaign was launched on April 9 and promoted a false narrative that Ukraine was preparing to seize control of the Hungarian government building in case if Tisza loses the election. The disinformation campaign initially linked to a publication on a third-party resource duna[.]center, which includes a video of the alleged Ukrainian soldiers making preparations to storm the parliament building in Budapest. By our preliminary assessment duna[.]center could be connected to a pro-Russian Hungarian Telegram channel “Oroszok Az Igazság Oldalán” (”Russians on the Side of Truth”), which is partnered with Rybar. Later, the video was distributed directly, as reported by Darren Linvill.
(FAKE) Magyar decided to withdraw from the race following JD Vance's visit to Budapest
The campaign was launched around April 9 and promotes a false narrative that Magyar decided to withdraw from the race following JD Vance’s visit to Budapest. The video is mimicking a reportage by Sky News and links to a publication in a copycat website sky-news[.]eu[.]com.
Ukraine
(FAKE) Ukrainian air defence consultants who were sent to the middle east are responsible for sabotage of American air defence systems in order to promote their offering
The campaign was launched around April 1 and promotes a false narrative that Ukrainian air defence consultants who were sent to the middle east are responsible for sabotage of American air defence systems in order to promote their offering. It links to several third-party websites: the English version is distributed with a link to actionreport[.]us, which links to alchourouk[.]com; and the French version is distributed with a link to lequotidien[.]com[.]tn . Our team was previously able to establish that lequotidien[.]com[.]tn and alchourouk[.]com have the same owner
(FAKE) Iranian drone destroyed an apartment allegedly owned by Zelenskyy
The campaign was launched around April 2 and promotes a false narrative that an Iranian drone destroyed an apartment allegedly owned by Zelenskyy. It also links to a publication on obscure Arabic-speaking portal besraha[.]com
(FAKE) Ukraine is dumping toxic waste associated with the rocket and uav production into rivers
The Storm-1516/R-FBI disinformation campaign was launched around April 6 and promotes a false narrative that Ukraine is dumping toxic waste associated with the rocket and uav production into rivers, with particular focus on Tisza river.
(FAKE) Ukrainian refugees are the leading sexual crimes offenders in EU, "citing" Eurostat
The Storm-1516/R-FBI disinformation campaign was launched around April 17 and promotes a false narrative that Ukrainian refugees are the leading sexual crimes offenders in EU, “citing” Eurostat.
(FAKE) One of the painting recently stolen from a museum in Italy ended up in Zelenskyy’s office
The campaign was launched around April 21 and promotes a false narrative that one of the painting recently stolen from a museum in Italy ended up in Zelenskyy’s office. The video associated with the campaign used the branding of the British public broadcaster “BBC”. Reported by antibot4navalny, Matryoshka promoted an adjacent false narrative that the paintings were stolen by Ukrainian refugees.
(FAKE) Ukrainian army recruitment officers are forcefully detaining humanitarian workers from EU and US and forcing them to sign the contracts to join the army
The Storm-1516/R-FBI disinformation campaign was launched around May 5 and promotes a false narrative that Ukrainian army recruitment officers are forcefully detaining humanitarian workers from EU and US and forcing them to sign the contracts to join the army.
(FAKE) Andriy Yermak is suspected by anti-corruption authority NABU in funnelling money from EDIP grants to Ukraine
The campaign was launched around May 22 and promotes a false narrative that Andriy Yermak is suspected by anti-corruption authority NABU in funnelling money from EDIP grants to Ukraine, and more specifically, the campaign is focused on “BraveTech EU” and “Fire Point” as parts of the alleged money laundering scheme.
(FAKE) Timur Mindich took 800kg of gold on the plane when he fled to Israel
The campaign was launched on May 27 and promotes a false narrative that Timur Mindich took 800kg of gold on the plane when he fled to Israel. The video associated with the campaign is using the branding of the Israeli newspaper “Haaretz”. The campaign also links to a publication on a fake copycat website haaretz24[.]com . The campaign was also promoted through Facebook ads [1] [2] via “Israel Insight” account created just a day before the campaign was launched.
France and Germany
(FAKE) Allegations against Emmanuel Macron of sexual assault involving minors
The campaign was launched around April 9 and includes fake testimony of “Sylvie Leroy”, which claims that her two sons were sexually assaulted by Emmanuel Macron. The campaign links to a publication made using a stolen identity of the French journalist Virginie Pironon on a recently created fake media website observateurfrancais[.]fr
(FAKE) German men are being stopped at the airports in order to check whether they have been “authorised” to leave the country by Bundeswehr
The campaign was launched around April 17 and promotes a false narrative that German men are being stopped at the airports in order to check whether they have been "authorised" to leave the country by Bundeswehr.
(FAKE) France, Germany, and UK shared intelligence about American forces with Iran
The campaign was launched around April 22 and promotes a false narrative that France, Germany, and UK shared intelligence about American forces with Iran in order to get a free passage through the Strait of Hormuz for their ships. The video associated with the campaign is using the branding of Qatari state-funded media Al Jazeera
(FAKE) French nuclear power plants suffered damage due to poor maintenance
The campaign was launched around May 2 and promotes a false narrative that French nuclear power plants suffered damage due to poor maintenance and in one case caused a radioactive contamination of the surrounding ares.
(FAKE) German authorities are planning to rename the Munich airport after Donald Trump
The campaign was launched on May 29 and promotes a false narrative that German authorities are planning to rename the Munich airport after Donald Trump. The campaign also links to a publication on a recently created copycat website spiegel[.]news and together with the associated video is using the branding of the German media outlet “Der Spiegel”.
fondfbr.ru (R-FBI) campaigns
(FAKE) The Prime Minister’s Daughter: How Mariam Pashinyan Turned Armenia’s Budget into a Tool for Illegal Family Business
Fakesperts: Armen Avagyan, Movses Gazaryan
(FAKE) Business on Waste: How Zelenskyy and Fyodorov Are Feeding the Ukrainian Army Rotten and Expired Food from Europe
Fakesperts: Warren Thornton
Notes: The “investigation” also contains a fabricated “presentation” on corruption Ukraine’s food supply system, allegedly made by a former British Ambassador in Syria, Peter Ford
(FAKE) Pashinyan’s Economic Terror: Hostile Takeovers and the Destruction of Dissident Businesses in Armenia
Fakesperts: Movses Ghazaryan, Armen Avagyan
(FAKE) The Price of Dissent: How Pashinyan Is Silencing Opposition Voices Ahead of the Elections
Fakesperts: Garik Zakaryan, Movses Gazaryan
(FAKE) Pashinyan’s School Terror: How the “Civic Contract” Turned the Education System into a Machine of Political Repression
Fakesperts: Grigor Balasanyan, Movses Ghazaryan