Russian government wants you to think it’s the Washington Post, authorities reveal

Russian disinformation campaigns are out of control. Certain campaigns like Doppelganger are age-old, but there are new kids on the block who are willing to deceive US companies to spread the pro-Russian agenda.

The Justice Department is seizing 32 internet domains used for the Russian disinformation campaign ‘Doppelganger.’

Russian companies, including the Social Design Agency (SDA), Structura National Technology (Structura), and ANO Dialog, used these domains to spread Russian government propaganda and reduce support for Ukraine.

Alongside their attempts to hinder worldwide support for Ukraine, the domains were also used to bolster pro-Russian policies and interests and influence US voters in foreign elections – including the 2024 US Presidential Election.

While investigating the domains, the US Treasury Department identified 10 individuals and two organizations who were involved in targeting the 2024 US Presidential Election.

The domains in question posed legitimate media outlets like ‘The Washington Post’ and posted Russian government messages to make it look like they had come from viable news outlets.

This is what is known as “cybersquatting,” when an individual or entity uses registered domains intended to mimic an individual or company’s website.

However, the disinformation campaign didn’t just pose as other companies or news outlets. It also sought to create its own identity to promote Doppelganger content. For example, ‘Recent Reliable News’ was a brand created to help spread disinformation.

Doppelganger also used influencers and paid social media advertisements to push its content. Social media accounts posing as US citizens were also created to post comments on different platforms with links to the domains – tricking real people into believing that these links led to legitimate news websites.

There were no signs that this disinformation came from the Russian government. Instead, Doppelganger set out to obscure the Russian government and its agents as the original source of this content.

Although Doppelganger directed its propaganda to US audiences, it also targeted other countries, including Germany, Mexico, and Israel. The disinformation campaign set out to undermine the US’ relationship with those countries and influence citizens to support the Russian government.

The Justice Department claims that Doppelganger’s use of US-based domain names controlled by sanctioned people involved with the SDA and Structura and the accompanying payments to these companies violates various acts. Doppelganger’s use of cybersquatted domains also violates trademark laws.

Russian influence campaigns like Doppelganger are commonplace in Russia, as two individuals have recently been accused of crimes relating to secret influence campaigns in the US.

Employees at RT, a Russian state-controlled news and television network funded by the Russian government, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, 31, also known as Kostya, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, also known as Lena, are accused of funneling nearly $10 million to secretly finance a US-based content creation company to divide US citizens and bolster Russia.

The Tennessee-based company published roughly 2000 English-language videos on TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube, which gained over 16 million views on YouTube alone.

Many of these videos draw on sensitive topics in the US, such as immigration, inflation, and other topics related to domestic and foreign policy, with the intention of heightening division in the US.

Although the views relayed in the videos vary, most of the sentiments within these videos follow publicly stated Russian goals.

To carry out RT’s covert influence plan, Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva assumed new identities at the Tennesse-based content creation company. They were known as Helena Shudra and Victoria Pesti.

Kalashnikov took on various roles, including editing, monitoring the company’s funds, and hiring new staff. Afanasyeva was then brought on as a part of the editing team.

Afanasyeva was in charge of posting and directing the posting of the company’s videos. She also collected information from the staff and instructed them on what the content of the video should include.

During the influence campaign, RT sent wire transfers totaling around $9.7 million to the Tennesse-based company (known as Company-1) from various shell companies in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Mauritius.

Notes attached to the transfers attempted to hide the meaning of the payment, often stating that these were payments for devices or electronics.

One of the wire notes, accompanied by a $318,000 payment from a shell company in Turkey, read: “BUYING GOODS-INV.013-IPHONE 15 PRO MAX 512GB.”

What’s alarming is that Company 1 never told its viewers that it was being funded by RT and, subsequently, the Russian government. In addition, the company and its founders failed to register as an agent of foreign principal with the Attorney General.

For their crimes, Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva could face a maximum of 25 years in prison.