Russian disinformation operators are using automated accounts to inflate the popularity of fabricated political videos ahead of the November 3 US midterm elections. The campaign targets Democratic candidates and prominent celebrities through AI-generated clips and misleading claims shared on social media.
The operation, attributed by researchers to a Russian state-backed network known as Matryoshka, also called Operation Overload, seeks to make false content appear widely accepted. The findings were reported by Bloomberg News on October 16.
Fabricated videos featuring actors and musicians, including Robert De Niro, Julia Roberts and Cher, began appearing on X in early September. Some clips falsely portray the celebrities attacking Democrats. Others promote the hashtag #AllDemocratsAreCriminals.
The campaign also circulates allegations of corruption and misconduct involving Democratic candidates. These claims are presented through manipulated videos and deceptive material designed to attract attention and undermine public confidence.
Bloomberg reviewed 130 videos and doctored newspaper front pages targeting the US midterms, published by the network between September 10 and October 9. Researchers from US-based groups Graphika and dTeam corroborated and supplemented the findings, while the anonymous research group Antibot4Navalny flagged much of the material.
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Artificially boosted view counts can give misleading posts the appearance of widespread public support. Such engagement can also help false narratives reach larger audiences through social media platforms.
Researchers have linked the network's activities to a broader effort to deepen political divisions and weaken trust in democratic institutions. The actual effect on voter behavior, however, is difficult to measure. Anne Nelson, a research fellow at Columbia University's Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, highlighted the importance of targeted influence campaigns.
“In a lot of these elections, you don’t need big numbers, you need targeting and that’s what the Russians do,” she said. Nelson also warned that reduced government capacity to track disinformation could leave the US more exposed to foreign influence efforts. The campaign poses a challenge for platforms and election watchdogs as voters encounter increasing volumes of manipulated political content ahead of the November vote.