Disinformation update: election in Hungary, Rostec, Rybar and a fake Armenian priest
Hungary emerged as a new target for Storm-1516, Armenia and Ukraine remain in focus, Storm-1516's potential connections to Rybar and Rostec and more
Special highlights
Rostec-related campaigns pushed trough the Storm-1516 disinformation network
Our team was able to identify several coordinated campaigns, which had definitive overlap with the Storm-1516 distribution network, which promoted narratives associated with Rybar and Rostec. According to U.S. State Department, Rybar receives funding from Rostec, additionally, Rybar routinely promotes Rostec subsidiaries through their publications and graphic materials.
Of of the campaigns identified by our team promoted an infographic by Rybar, displaying alleged capabilities of “Geranium” drones if they were to be launched from Cuba.
Another campaign, which began on January 26, promoted an alleged message by Tina Kandelaki. Kandelaki currently is a deputy CEO in the state controlled media holding “Gazprom-Media”, but no less important, she is married to Vasily Brovko. Brovko is one of the closest people to Rostec’s head Sergey Chemezov and currently is serving as the “Director for Special Assignments” in Rostec. In Russia Brovko’s name is often associated with persecution against the owners of anonymous Telegram channels, who may write about Rostec, Chemezov or Kandelaki in the “wrong” way. Notably, in 2022 Proekt reported that Rostec and Brovko are behind systematic effort to expose and control the owners of anonymous Telegram channels. Proekt also came to the conclusion that Vasily Brovko, with the backing from Chemezov and Rostec, is behind a series of criminal cases against 12 owners of different anonymous Telegram channels, most of them are related to “blocks on negative information”, a questionable practice when the channel owners are asking for a bribe in exchange for blocking the publication of negative information related to specific topic or person, which was classified as extortion for the criminal cases. As reported by The Bell and Meduza, in order to find the people behind the anonymous channels Rostec together with the “National Engineering Corporation” and “T.Hunter” developed a system called “Okhotnik” (translates from Russian as “hunter”), the project was curated by Brovko together with an FSB officer Pavel Seleznyov and included plans to sell the solution FSB and to the Russian Police.
A few days before the campaign, on December 24, Kandelaki received an Order of Alexander Nevsky from Vladimir Putin for “contributions to the development of mass media and many years of fruitful activity”.
Another coordinated campaign is related to the expropriated Russian properties of the Danish company Rockwool, the narrative revolves around the decision by the “new management” to donate 600 million roubles to the Russian war effort in Ukraine. According to a report by The Bell, the Rockwool factories in Russia were transferred to temporary management of a recently created company, which according to The Bell’s sources is essentially controlled by Rostec. Another source told The Bell that they saw a letter containing Putin’s resolution on the transfer of Danish assets to Rostec.
Open AI exposes content farm with connections to Rybar
Additionally, Open AI recently published a report, which exposes a content network associated with Rybar, according to Open AI’s assessment. LLM prompts were typically provided in Russian, but content was generated in several languages, primarily in Russian, English and Spanish. Some of the content was traced by Open AI to Rybar’s non-Russian social media accounts and Rybar website. Additionally, Open AI was able to trace some of the produced content to generated comments on X and Telegram by accounts with no clear affiliation with Rybar.
Another group of content is particularly interesting, as it can be traced to several accounts related to the Storm-1516 distribution network, which was partially reported by X user HTracker10, namely to accounts “Nadira Ali”, “American Citizen“, “Johnny Midnight“ and “THE REAL DARK JUDGE”. The promoted material doesn’t fit into the parameters of a typical Storm-1516 campaign, but coordinated distribution can’t be overlooked.
Additionally, OpenAI highlights the generation of promotional posts by the same actor for an “analytical” portal “REST Media“. Our team was able to trace the mentioned publications to several telegram channels:
“The Islander”, which is being run a by a convicted pedophile Jared Nolan (also known as “Gerry Nolan“), who also has historical associations with “DD Geopolitics”
“DD Geopolitics“, another “analytical” project, which is primarily associated with Sarah Bils, but attracted several interesting characters over the years.
“European Dissident”, a channel, which belongs to the same wider ecosystem, associated with a “freelance journalist” Juan Sinmiedo
“REST Media” appeared in mid-2025 as an anonymously-run “analytical” portal based in Serbia and for a long period of time it leveraged the Storm-1516 distribution network for its promotion. An investigation by DFRLab was able to establish links between “REST Media”, Rybar and Serbian blogger Vesna Veizovic, which corroborated with our further findings. On March 28, 2026 REST Media announced the end of the project citing the “sustained and coordinated pressure”; however the real reason seems to be more prosaic: according to our information, most of the articles on the website didn’t receive even a thousand views, and only a few received over 2000 views.
The report also makes an indication that the activities of the account owners are going beyond than just running socials and faking engagement for Rybar:
Alongside content generation, the operation’s main account also asked ChatGPT to translate into English a list of services “Rybar ” could offer to unnamed clients, including running X and Telegram accounts, a bilingual “investigative journalism” website focused on Africa, paid publications in French-language media, and a network of amplifiers. A separate prompt asked the model to edit a proposal for what appeared to be a deployed election interference team, apparently in Africa. This proposal included on-the-ground activity as well as online, such as building a network of local agents and organizing large-scale events. A third prompt discussed an information campaign focused on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Further prompts asked about the electoral process in Burundi and Cameroon and sketched out options for a campaign in Madagascar, including the idea of inflaming protests on the ground. The sums involved were considerable: an estimated annual budget of up to $600,000 for the most ambitious project.
Thomas Röper’s connection to GRU
The Insider together with Novaya Gazeta Europe recently published a study on the Russian influence on German audience in Telegram. Among other things, the publication sheds light on Thomas Röper’s connection to InfoRos “news agency”. In 2020 he was accredited to the annual Vladimir Putin's press conference as a reporter for InfoRos "news agency". InfoRos was established by Denis Tyurin, an officer in the GRU unit 54777, which is responsible for psychological operations. According to The Insider, Tyurin currently serves as the unit’s deputy head. While we were unable to find the root source, one of his biographies mentions that he moved to Russia after he got an offer from “unnamed information agency”.
CheckFirst documents GRU’s Information Operations Troops structure
Continuing the GRU theme, CheckFirst recently published a report, in which they attempted to establish the structure of the GRU’s “Information Operations Troops” ("VIO") based on phaleristics and other OSINT methods. All units in the structure appear to be subordinated to the “VIO“ commanding unit 55111. An unverified leak from 2022 on sliv[.]top pointed to Pavel Konovalchik as the head of the unit 55111 and Alexander Starunsky as his deputy.
Our team was able to catch Alexander Starunsky wearing the “Information Operations Troops” (”VIO”, or unit 55111) patch in late 2021. In May 2021 Starunsky was mentioned in a presidential decree as the deputy head of the unit 55111, when he was appointed into the Scientific Council of Russia’s Security Council. Before that, Starunsky was the head of the Unit 54777 according to a report by Estonian intelligence, which is the main center of “psychological operations department” in “VIO”.
In another case, our team was able to catch Pavel Konovalchik in 2023 wearing the “VIO” patch. Historically Konovalchik was connected to the infamous unit 26165, which is the main center of the “encryption and cryptoanalysis department” in “VIO” and is well known for hacking campaigns under the codename Fancy Bear designated by the security researchers. In 2009 Konovalchik was mentioned as the head of department in the unit 26165, and in 2011 Konovalchik was heading a SIGINT unit 61913, which was apparently dissolved in the same year.
In May 2024 Sergey Shoigu was replaced with Andrey Belousov as the Minister of Defence , and was appointed as the secretary of the Russian Security Council. Shortly after, in July, Konovalchik was appointed as the Assistant to the Secretary of Russia's Security Council. Following the recent arrest of Ruslan Tsalikov, one of the Shoigu’s former deputies, Konovalchik was relieved from his position in the Security Council by a presidential decree. Considering the context, his next appointment may be in the jail cell.
Nova Resistência founder Raphael Machado was exposed as one of the Storm-1516 distribution network operators
Tagesschau was able to establish that Raphael Machado is actively involved in the distribution of the Storm-1516 materials. More specifically, Daniel Gugger, probably the biggest disseminator of the Storm-1516 materials in German speaking sphere, told NDR that he was receiving the materials from Raphael Machado, highlighting that he wasn’t paid for the publications. Our team previously reported that some of the Storm-1516 materials on the Gugger’s Telegram channel could be traced to another prominent person in Storm-1516 universe - Simeon Boikov, who is also known as “Aussie Cossack”, which makes us to believe that even the same disseminator may receive Storm-1516 disinformation materials from multiple handlers.
Raphael Machado is the leader and one of the founders of a Brasilian chapter of Nova Resistência (NR). NR is ideologically aligned with Alexander Dugin’s “Eurasian Movement” and two are actively collaborating. Previously he was involved in the distribution of the Storm-1516 materials; however, his role in the operation seemed unimportant. In May 2025 t-online together with Jüdische Allgemeine exposed Machado’s role in Social Design Agency’s media brands operation: he was taking interviews, which were later published in SDA media brands websites. It’s clear that Machado has a wide social network, and it appears that he may be using for the benefit of the multiple IO actors.
Another NR founding member Lucas Leiroz also has an integral role in Storm-1516 ecosystem: primarily, he’s involved in the placement of R-FBI materials on the third-party resources, such as “Veterans Today“. In one of our previous reports we went in depth in the range of his activities.
Fake Armenian priest and journalist
One of the recent R-FBI “investigations” included an interview with an alleged Armenian priest “Gevorg Khachatryan“, who was claiming that he was kidnapped an tortured by the Armenian authorities. According to CivilNet’s conclusion, the video was produced using AI-driven face manipulation technology. In another case, a fake journalist named “Aziz Yerganian” came up in a publication in a Turkish media outlet Aydinlik. The publication was related to a Storm-1516 campaign, and according to fip analysis, the image was likely AI generated.
According to AWS face comparison tool, the faces of “Gevorg Khachatryan” and “Aziz Yerganian” appear to be practically identical. However, it’s not entirely clear whether both identities were based on the same real person, or if “Gevorg” video was just face swapped with “Aziz”.
German accusations and sanctions
In December 2025, the German foreign ministry officially accused Russia of election interference during the German federal election, specifically in connection to the Storm-1516 campaigns targeting Germany.
On December 15, 2025, EU adopted sanctions against John Mark Dougan. Following the designation, Dougan did an interview with the Russian media where he made an attempt to look like he doesn’t care about sanctions. But as they say: “actions speak louder than words”, and on December 16 Dougan published an “exposé” about EU on some of his fake media websites.
The same sanctions batch also included Russian propagandist of French origin Xavier Moreau, Russian propagandist of Ukrainian origin Diana Panchenko, Jacques Baud, people connected to Valdai club, the members of hacking sub-division of the GRU unit 29155, 142nd Separate Electronic Warfare Battalion and the “International Russophile Movement”.
On March 16, 2026, EU adopted sanctions against Adrien Bocquet, who became “famous” following his public denial of the Bucha massacre. Bocquet was also directly involved in the some of the Storm-1516 disinformation campaigns. Same sanction batch also includes the Russian propagandist of British origin Graham Phillips and presenters on the Russian TV.
Storm-1516 campaigns
Hungary
On March 6 VSquare reported that Kremlin has dispatched a team of GRU-linked advisors to Hungary to help with the re-election of Fidesz and Viktor Orban. According to VSquare, the whole operation is being overseen by Sergey Kiriyenko. On March 11, FT reported that Vladimir Putin has endorsed a plan developed by the Social Design Agency (SDA), a long time Kiriyenko’s toy for influence operations (IO) in the foreign countries, which promoting the Kremlin’s agenda. Most widely known operations associated with SDA are Doppelganger and media brands; however, no IO-related activity by SDA has been reported so far in relation to the election in Hungary.
The involvement of GRU-linked advisors was further confirmed by a report from the Washington Post. It also uncovered a proposed plan from SVR active measures department to stage an assassination attempt on Orban, calling it “the Gamechanger”. According to reports antibot4navalny team, Matryoshka also joined the effort and is mostly focusing on building anti-Ukrainian rhetoric in Hungary. Additionally, NewsGuard reported about a coordinated campaign in TikTok, which involves hundreds of AI-generated TikTok videos, which are intended to promote Orban while discrediting his opposition.
Reported first by our team, is a series of campaigns, which we were able to trace to Storm-1516, which are targeting the upcoming parliamentary election in Hungary. The campaigns are aimed to undermine the opposition to Viktor Orban and his party Fidesz, namely the Tisza party and its leader Peter Magyar. For additional context and campaign details you can read our special report:
Magyar AI vid
Another likely Storm-1516 campaign which was launched around March 1, 2026 is a fabricated video, which depicts Peter Magyar standing up in a church with dirty pants, framing it as a result of drug use.
A story of “Hungarian journalist”
While it doesn’t look like a typical Storm-1516 disinformation campaign, a publication “Wake-Up Call for Trump: Europeans Attempt to Undermine U.S. Efforts to Prevent Erasure of Europe” on “the thinking conservative”, was promoted by the Storm-1516 distribution network. “The thinking conservative” claims to share “news and conservative opinion on all kinds of topics from all types of people using different media formats to help people understand conservatism and its importance to our freedom and our pursuit of happiness”. The article, authored by “Istvan Toth”, paints a narrative alleging a “secret pact” between Tisza and EU leadership and draws EU leadership as an adversary to U.S. interests, naming the United States as “Europe’s only hope”.
“Istvan Toth” profile on the website states the following:
Istvan Toth is a Hungarian freelance journalist and political analyst skilled in conducting investigations. Focused on transatlantic and EU domestic issues. He also writes for other online publications including American Thinker, Unzensuriert, and HAINTZ.
Our team was able to find the publications [1] [2] [3] [4] by the same “author” in the mentioned editions. The publications are primarily promoting hatred towards Ukraine and EU leadership. The earliest one was in “American Thinker” from February 2026. We weren’t able to establish any publications by this “author” before 2026, which can be interpreted as a hint that it’s most likely a fake identity. The stories didn’t get much resonance among their readers though, and received mostly negative response like: “The corrupt Goulash-Putin will finally be history by the end of April at the latest and will head to prison”.
(FAKE) Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi worked with the Ukrainian military recruiters to recruit Hungarians to fight in Ukraine
The campaign was launched on March 19, 2026 and includes a vertical video which promotes a false narrative that Tisza party member Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi has worked with the Ukrainian military recruiters to recruit Hungarians to fight in Ukraine. The campaign also links to a publication on a recently registered fake media website hirekhub24[.]hu .
Additional fact check and analysis may be found in the publications [1] [2] by Lakmusz.
(FAKE) Magyar and Tisza exposé
Another campaign, which was likely performed by Storm-1516, was launched around March 19, 2026 and contains an eleven minute exposé on Tisza and Peter Magyar. The campaign links to a video on a YouTube channel “dre353545” as the source.
(FAKE) Magyar insulted Trump in one of the recent rallies and promised to withdraw from deals with the United States
The campaign was launched around March 23, 2026 and includes a video collage with generated voiceover which promotes a false narrative that Peter Magyar insulted Donal Trump in one of the recent rallies and promised to withdraw from the recent deals with the United States. The video is using Euronews branding and links to a publication on a copycat website euronews[.]us[.]com .
(FAKE) Tisza vice-president is involved in human trafficking for Epstein
The campaign was launched on March 28, 2026 and includes a video “investigation”, which promotes a false narrative that Tisza vice-president Agnes Forsthoffer was involved in human trafficking network related to Jeffrey Epstein. The campaign also links to a publication on a recently created fake media website 24veritas[.]com .
Additional fact check and analysis may be found in a publication by Lakmusz.
Armenia
Storm-1516 keeps targeting Armenia and the prime minister Nikol Pashinyan. The the false narratives revolve mostly around the concept of “Armenia being sold out to Turkey by Pashinyan” and other social issues in Armenia. The associated publications are continuing to be associated with the Russian propagandist of Turkish origin Okay Deprem.
(FAKE) Mount Ararat is going to removed from the national currency bills and from the national coat of arms
The campaign was launched around December 8, 2025 and includes a video collage, which promotes a false narrative that the image of the mount Ararat is going to removed from the national currency bills and from the national coat of arms. The campaign also links to a publication by Okay Deprem in OdaTV.
The campaign was likely intended to amplify the dissatisfaction in the Armenian society following the removal of Ararat image from the Armenian border crossing stamps.
(FAKE) Pashinyan granted Turkey an exclusive access to the water resources in Aras river for 99 years at no cost
The campaign was launched around December 30, 2025 and includes a video collage, which promotes a false narrative that as a part of the process of normalisation between the two countries Pashinyan granted Turkey an exclusive access to the water resources in Aras river for 99 years at no cost, which includes the permits to build multiple dams and and hydroelectric plants. The campaign also links to a publication by Okay Deprem in Evrensel.
(FAKE) Armenian nation will be removed from the Armenian constitution
The campaign was launched around January 9, 2026 and includes a video collage, which promotes a false narrative that the Armenian government is preparing a new constitution, which allegedly removes all references to the Armenian nation. The campaign also paint the alleged revision of the constitution as a concession to Azerbaijan and Turkey. The campaign also links to a publication by Okay Deprem in OdaTV.
(FAKE) Gold from Amulsar mine is being sold to Turkey below the market price
The campaign was launched around January 21, 2026 and includes a video collage, which promotes a false narrative that the gold from Amulsar mine is being sold to Turkish companies below the market price as part of an exclusive deal. The campaign also links to a publication by Okay Deprem on Veryansin TV website.
(FAKE) Pashinyan will lead the first pride parade in Armenia
The campaign was launched around February 2, 2026 and includes a video collage which promotes that Nikol Pashinyan is planning to organise and lead the first ever official pride parade in Armenia on April 7, which coincides with Motherhood and Beauty Day in Armenia. The campaign also links to a publication by Okay Deprem in a Turkish edition of the Chinese state media CGTN.
Additional fact check and analysis may be found in a publication by fip.am.
(FAKE) Armenian government is preparing to ban abortions
The campaign was launched around February 6, 2026 and includes a video collage, which promotes a false narrative that the Armenian government is preparing to ban abortions in an alleged attempt to appeal to a more conservative electorate. The campaign links to publications by Okay Deprem in OdaTV a Turkish edition of the Chinese state media CGTN. The video is also using the logo of an Armenian media outlet “CivilNet”, which also refuted the story as fake; however, we do not agree with their attribution of the campaign to “Matryoshka”.
(FAKE) Pashinyan’s wife having an affair with a Turkish actor
The campaign was launched around February 21, 2026 and includes a video which promotes a false narrative that Nikol Pashinyan's wife Anna Hakobyan had an affair with a Turkish actor Ozan Akbaba. The campaign links to a publication on a fake media website velvetnews[.]co[.]uk and received additional coverage through a publication by Okay Deprem in OdaTV.
(FAKE) Armenian government introduced a bill to establish legal protections for Islam in Armenia
The campaign was launched around February 27, 2026 and includes a video collage, which promotes a false narrative that the Armenian government has introduced a bill to establish legal protections for Islam in Armenia, and to introduce “basic of Islam” classes in the schools and construction of prayer rooms in the public facilities. The campaign paints the alleged bill as a “strategic gesture” to Turkey and Azerbaijan. The campaign links to a publication by fake journalist “Aziz Yerganian” in a Turkish media outlet Ulusal, which is connected to Vatan party. The story was also published by another Vatan party outlet Aydinlik.
Additional fact check and analysis may be found in a publication by fip.am.
(FAKE) Armenia will grant full control of the roads on Zangezur corridor to a Turkish company
The campaign was launched around March 7, 2026 and includes a video collage, which promotes a false narrative that Armenia has signed an agreement with a Turkish company Limak to build the Armenian section of the Zangezur corridor as part of the normalisation efforts with Turkey, the planned route will also allegedly connect Yerevan with the Turkish city of Kağızman. The alleged plan also includes the full control by Limak over the project, including safety and surveillance for 40 years. The story also claims that Turkey will receive the 100% of the project’s revenue for 10 years after completion. The campaign links to a publication by Okay Deprem in dikGAZETE.
(FAKE) Armenian government is planning to revoke all military awards related to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
The campaign was launched around March 25, 2026 and includes a video collage, which promotes a false narrative that the Armenian government plans to annul all military awards and medals related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The campaign also links to a publication by Okay Deprem in dikGAZETE.
Additional fact check and analysis may be found in a publication by fip.am.
Ukraine
(FAKE) Zelenskyy purchased Bill Cosby’s townhouse in New York
The campaign was launched around December 3, 2025 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that Volodymyr Zelenskyy purchased Bill Cosby’s townhouse in New York for $29 million though “Film Heritage Inc” company. The video is using the branding of "Page Six", a New York Post's subsidiary publication focused on celebrity gossip. The campaign also links to a publication on a copycat website pagesix[.]now, which also mimics the real “Page Six”.
(FAKE) Zelenskyy ordered to turn orphaned children into suicide bombers
The Storm-1516/R-FBI campaign was launched around December 8, 2025 and includes a video collage, which promotes a false narrative that Zelenskyy ordered to turn orphaned children into suicide bombers.
(FAKE) Numerous foreign passports belonging to Zelenskyy, Yermak and Mindich were found during NABU search
The campaign was launched around December 11, 2025 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that during a search in Andriy Yermak's office by NABU, authorities discovered numerous foreign passports for Zelenskyy, Mindich and Yermak, along with the paperwork for billions of dollars in offshore payments and "piles of cash”.
(FAKE) Ukrainian soldiers are being microchipped in order to kill them remotely
The Storm-1516/R-FBI campaign was launched around December 20, 2025 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that the Ukrainian soldiers are being microchipped under the guise of covid vaccination in order to kill them remotely if they don't follow the orders.
(FAKE) Ukraine is smuggling weapons to the Colombian cartel
The campaign was launched around December 22, 2025 and includes a video collage branded as a likely made up “Freedom Podcast”, the video promotes a false narrative that Ukraine is smuggling European weapons and military equipment to the Colombian drug cartels and that the Ukrainian special forces are also involved with the cartels.
(FAKE) Ukrainian government is seizing apartments from childless widows of the deceased Ukrainian soldiers
The Storm-1516/R-FBI campaign was launched around January 7, 2026 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that the Ukrainian government is seizing apartments from childless widows of the deceased Ukrainian soldiers.
Additional fact check and analysis may be found in a publication by AFP.
(FAKE) Zelenskyy purchased 1% share of AstraZeneca
The campaign was launched around January 28, 2026 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that Oleksiy Chernyshov purchased 1% stake in AstraZeneca on behalf of Volodymyr Zelenskyy with the money funnelled from the International aid. The campaign also links to a publication made under the stolen identity of The Guradian reporter Steven Morris on a fake media website insider[.]uk[.]com.
(FAKE) “ISIS in Nigeria” is threatening Donald Trump with “Javelins from Ukraine”
The campaign was launched around February 2, 2026 and includes a fake video which depicts an alleged threat from West African branch of “Islamic State” towards Donald Trump with "Javelins from Ukraine".
(FAKE) Zelenskyy is preparing to eliminate his political rivals
The Storm-1516/R-FBI campaign was launched around February 2, 2026 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that Zelenskyy is preparing to eliminate his political rivals, namely Yulia Tymoshenko, Petro Poroshenko, Vitali Klitschko and Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
(FAKE) Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a "secret decree" to stop evacuations for the wounded soldiers
The Storm-1516/R-FBI campaign was launched around February 8, 2026 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that Zelenskyy issued a "secret decree" to stop evacuations for the wounded soldiers.
(FAKE) Zelenskyy purchased Diddy’s mansion
The campaign was launched around February 17, 2026 and includes a video collage with the branding of an American tabloid TMZ. The video promotes a false narrative that Volodymyr Zelenskyy purchased through “Aldorante Ltd” a mansion, which previously belonged to Sean Combs. The campaign also links to a publication on a copycat website celebrity-homes-tmz[.]com .
Additional fact check and analysis may be found in a publication by Open (in Italian).
(FAKE) Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy funnelled 3.7 million euro from EU aid funds
The Storm-1516/R-FBI campaign was launched around March 2, 2026 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy together with Ivan Bakanov funnelled 3.7 million euro from EU aid funds.
(FAKE) Zelensky’s casting agency involved in trafficking minors for Epstein
The campaign was launched around March 6, 2026 and includes a video “investigation”, which promotes a false narrative that a “casting agency” Centrocast, which allegedly worked with Kvartal 95 Studio, was involved in the trafficking of Ukrainian minors for Jeffrey Epstein. The campaign also links to a publication on a recently created website “Epstein Files Database” epsteinfilesdb[.]com .
(FAKE) Ukraine is running secret torture camps in the Carpathian Mountains
The Storm-1516/R-FBI campaign was launched around March 8, 2026 and includes a video collage, which promotes a false narrative that Ukraine is running secret torture camps in the Carpathian Mountains for the people evading military service.
(FAKE) Sergiy Kyslytsya bribed a French military official in order to secure the sale of the Ukrainian drones
The Storm-1516/R-FBI campaign was launched around March 23, which includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that Sergiy Kyslytsya bribed a French military official Claire Legras in order to secure the sale of the Ukrainian drones without complying with EU regulations.
France
(FAKE) Macron received a below average IQ score when he joined an investment bank Rothschild & Co
The campaign was launched around December 2, 2025 and includes a video “investigation” citing faked internal documents from “Rothschild & Co”, which are alleging that Emmanuel Macron had low IQ and exhibited signs of narcissistic personality disorder when he joined the investment bank. The campaign also links to a publication under a stolen identity of Le Figaro journalist Adrien Bez on a copycat website frdesouche[.]fr, which is mimicking a right wing French news aggregator Fdesouche.
Additional fact check and analysis may be found in the publications by AFP and Le Figaro.
(FAKE) Macron lost a testicle in result of a jet ski accident
The campaign was launched around December 18, 2025 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that the French president Emmanuel Macron lost a testicle in result of a jet ski accident. The campaign also links to a publication on a copycat website lejdd[.]net, which copies the website of the French newspaper "Le Journal du Dimanche".
(FAKE) List of 200 French military service members who are up for promotion was leaked in Algerian media
The campaign was launched around December 22, 2025 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that a list of 200 French military service members who are up for promotion was leaked in Algerian media. The campaign links to a publication by Pietro Stramezzi in a conspiracy-oriented French media website francesoir[.]fr, which in turn cites an obscure Algerian media elkhabar[.]com .
The author, Pietro Stramezzi, is no random person also. While living in Moscow, he often appears in the Russian state media as a self proclaimed “Italian count” while promoting the typical propaganda narratives related to “traditional values” and the “rotting West”.
(FAKE) €2B intended for purchase of Rafale fighter jets were embezzled by French and Ukrainian officials
The campaign was launched around January 19, 2026 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative claiming that the Ukrainian anti-corruption agency NABU exposed an alleged scheme to funnel 2 billion euro from the funds, which were intended for the purchase of Rafale fighter jets with involvement of the several Ukrainian and French officials. The campaign also links to a publication on a fake copycat website nabu-gov[.]com .
Additional fact check and analysis may be found in the publications by AFP and Le Monde.
(FAKE) Epstein files contain information about Macron's alleged involvement with minors
The campaign was launched around February 4, 2026 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that the Epstein files contain information about Macron’s alleged involvement with minors. The campaign also links to a publication made under the stolen identity of Le Parisien journalist Victor Cousin on a fake media website france-soir[.]net, which copies a conspiracy-oriented French media website francesoir[.]fr . It’s important to highlight that the real “France Soir” was used to publish another Storm-1516 disinformation campaigns only a few weeks earlier.
Additional fact check and analysis may be found in the publications by Le Parisien and France 24.
(FAKE) A disease outbreak in cattle in France was caused by grain sourced from Ukraine
The campaign was launched around February 20, 2026 and includes a video “report”, which promotes a false narrative that an alleged disease outbreak in cattle in France was caused by grain sourced from Ukraine. The video also includes a “testimony” from an alleged farmer who got affected by the alleged outbreak. The campaign also links to a publication on a recently created copycat website franceagricole[.]net, which copies an agriculture news portal “La France Agricole”.
Additional fact check and analysis may be found in a publication by BFM.
(FAKE) Paris mayor candidate proposed to turn Centre Pompidou into a shelter for homeless migrants
The campaign was launched around March 5, 2026 and includes a video collage which promoted a false narrative that a Paris mayor candidate Pierre-Yves Bournazel is proposing to repurpose the Centre Pompidou into a shelter for homeless migrants, with the backing from the French president Emmanuel Macron. The campaign also links to a recently created copycat website macronavecbournazel[.]fr, which attempts to copy the real website of Bournazel’s campaign
Additional fact check and analysis may be found in the publications by AFP and Radio France.
(FAKE) Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier has a typhus outbreak and is “falling apart”
The campaign was launched on March 27, 2026 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative alleging a Typhus outbreak in the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, it also alleges that the carrier is infested with rats and fleas and claims that it’s “falling apart”. The video contains a generated voiceover, and also includes an audio “testimony” with a generated voice, which is barely different from the voiceover. The campaign also links to a publication on a recently created fake media website armeefrance[.]fr .
Germany
(FAKE) A man lost his arm in result of an airplane accident involving Merz
The disinformation campaign was launched around November 26, 2025 and includes a video “report” which also includes a "testimony" of an alleged airfield supervisor in UK, who allegedly lost his arm as a result of the incident involving Merz. The campaign also links to a publication made under a stolen identity of the Daily Mail's US Associate Showbusiness Editor Deirdre Durkan-Simonds on a recently created fake media website dailyexpress[.]news, and together with the video it’s using the name of a British tabloid “Daily Express”, but not using its branding.
(FAKE) CDU/CSU bloc is planning to increase of the retirement age and raise pension contribution rates
The campaign was launched around December 13, 2025 and includes a publication on a copycat website cdu-csu[.]online which copies the official website of the CDU/CSU bloc. The campaign promotes a false narrative that CDU/CSU bloc has agreed on a pension reform, which includes the increase of the retirement age and raised contribution rates.
(FAKE) Germany will fund a construction of a stadium in Brazil as an apology
The campaign was launched around January 20, 2026 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that Merz approved funding for $1.4B project to build a stadium in Brazil as a form of excuse for his remarks at COP30 climate summit. The campaign also links to a publication on novaresistencia[.]org, which is associated with a Brazilian neofascist group Nova Resistência headed by Raphael Machado.
(FAKE) Germany is preparing to take in 400 000 Palestinian refugees
The campaign was launched around March 13, 2026 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that the German government is preparing a plan for reception of 400 000 Palestinian refugees primarily in the eastern regions of Germany. The video is using Politico branding and links to a publication on a copycat website politico-24[.]com .
(FAKE) Merz purchased a Boeing in order to turn it into the “doomsday plane“
The campaign was launched on March 18, 2026 and includes a video collage which promotes a false narrative that Merz purchased a Boeing in order to turn it into the “doomsday plane“ for personal use. The campaign also links to a publication on a fake media website euinfo[.]net .
Additional fact check and analysis may be found in a publication by Lead Stories.
Other campaigns
(FAKE) Pavel Durov visited Epstein’s “cannibal” party
The campaign was launched around March 5, 2026 and includes a vertical video collage, which promotes promotes a false narrative alleging Durov's visit to Epstein's estate in Paris and goes into several controversies around Durov's figure. The majority of the publications are linking to a YouTube "short", which was published in a "hidden_truth_87" channel, registered in May 2025.
fondfbr.ru (R-FBI) campaigns
(FAKE) Zelensky’s meat grinder: how the bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers end up in the meat market
Fakesperts: Simeon Boikov, Tara Reade
(FAKE) Pashinyan–Grzo Corruption and Drug Trafficking: How Armenia Became Hostage to an Oligarch-Criminal and a Corrupt Prime Minister
Fakesperts: Armen Avagyan, Movses Ghazaryan
(FAKE) The British elite and child pornography: how members of the royal family film and distribute illegal content featuring Ukrainian minors
Fakesperts: Chay Bowes, Lembit Opik
(FAKE) Pashinyan’s judicial outrage: How the prime minister turned Armenia’s justice system into an instrument of repression
https://fondfbr.ru/en/articles/pashinyan-court-outrage-en/
Fakesperts: Movses Ghazaryan
(FAKE) Zelensky’s crypto farms: Ukrainian leader illegally exploits Ukraine’s energy sector for personal gain and deprives Ukrainians of electricity
Fakesperts: Warren Thornton, John Varoli
(FAKE) War against faith: how Pashinyan is preparing to physically eliminate the Catholicos and seize the Armenian Church
Fakesperts: Armen Avagyan, “Gevorg Khachatryan” (fake person), Movses Ghazaryan
(FAKE) Air terror against dissenters: how Zelensky uses drones to eliminate opponents
Fakesperts: Stanislav Krapivnik, Christopher Helali
(FAKE) Pashinyan’s Black Market for Organs: How the Armenian Prime Minister Is Selling His Citizens Piece by Piece to France for Transplants
Fakesperts: Chay Bowes, Movses Gazaryan
(FAKE) Weapons for America’s Enemies: Zelenskyy Supplies Assault Rifles, Ammunition, and Equipment to Latin American Drug Cartels
Fakesperts: Christopher Helali, Warren Thornton