Russian propaganda is using deepfakes, sham websites and social media swarms

A deepfake video of a State Department official falsely claiming a Russian city is a legitimate target for Ukrainian strikes using U.S. weapons.

Pro-Russia social media accounts amplifying stories about divisive political topics such as immigration and campus protests over the war in Gaza.

Sham news sites spoofing real publications or posing as legitimate-sounding outlets with names like D.C. Weekly, the Boston Times and Election Watch.

Russian propaganda is ramping up in a busy global election year, targeting American voters as well as elections in Europe and the Paris Olympics, according to intelligence officials, internet researchers and tech companies.

“Russia remains the most active foreign threat to our elections,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told senators last month at a briefing about election risks.

Influence operations linked to Russia take aim at a disparate range of targets and subjects around the world. But their hallmarks are consistent: attempting to erode support for Ukraine, discrediting democratic institutions and officials, seizing on existing political divides and harnessing new artificial intelligence tools.

"They're often producing narratives that feel like they're throwing spaghetti at a wall," said Andy Carvin, managing editor at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, which tracks online information operations. "If they can get more people on the internet arguing with each other or trusting each other less, then in some ways their job is done."

Some efforts have been linked directly to the Kremlin, including a network of fake accounts and phony news websites given the name Doppelganger, whose operators have been sanctioned by both the U.S. and the European Union.