Russia-linked group spoofing European journalists to spread disinformation

A Kremlin-linked disinformation group has been impersonating real journalists and publishing fake articles on spoofed news websites to spread false narratives in France, Armenia, Germany, Moldova and Norway, researchers have found.

The campaign was attributed to Storm-1516, a Russian threat actor active since at least 2023 that has previously sought to discredit Ukraine and sow discord in Europe. The group’s past operations have also targeted elections in Germany, Georgia and the United States.

In its latest campaign, uncovered by disinformation researchers at the fact-checking initiative Gnida Project, Storm-1516 used the names and photos of legitimate reporters on bylines to lend credibility to false claims published on the fake news sites. The journalists were unaware their identities had been misused until the campaign was made public. Some are now reportedly pursuing legal action.

Read more at The Record