The Kremlin-backed Matryoshka bot network has launched a disinformation campaign following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Christmas address, in which he wished death upon an unnamed person. In the statement itself, it was clear from context that Zelensky had in mind Vladimir Putin. However, as the Bot Blocker Project reports, Kremlin-backed accounts began spreading the false story that the target of the Ukrainian president’s “wish” had been none other than Donald Trump.
The bots began mass-distributing videos bearing the logos of major Western media outlets such as AFP. Videos spread by the bots bear the logos of multiple Western media outlets. Some of the falsified footage even claimed that the pope had condemned Zelensky for his remarks. (The Insider has links to the bots’ posts, along with evidence provided by Bot Blocker showing that the accounts belong to the Matryoshka network.)
In addition, the videos circulated by the bots claim that “95% of global broadcasters” stopped airing Zelensky’s Christmas address at the moment the phrase wishing death was uttered. No evidence is provided to support this claim, and it does not correspond to reality.