Armenia targeted by Kremlin's 'Matryoshka': The network is known for disinformation attacks in the post-Soviet space, 18 June 2025

The Kremlin network known as “Matryoshka,” which carries out disinformation campaigns in post-Soviet countries, has targeted Armenia for the first time. In particular, starting June 12, online bots* have launched a campaign against Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with harsh criticism and false claims...

In an interview with the Russian media outlet The Insider, a researcher of “troll factories”*, a a “bot blocker” on X, revealed details of this disinformation campaign...

Publications criticizing Pashinyan have been shared on the X and TikTok social networks, some of which are presented as videos created by prominent international media outlets. Some of the shared videos are compiled from interviews with professors from various universities around the world.

Most of the videos are dedicated to Pashinyan’s policy of alleged denial of the 1915 Armenian Genocide...

Some of the videos shared by the “Matryoshka” network are “disguised” as videos from the social networks of major foreign media outlets, including Euronews, France 24, the Turkish Yeni Şafak, and the Armenian Tert.am.

One of them, attributed to the Euronews TV channel, claims that Armenia leads in terms of corruption among Middle Eastern countries...

Established in 2023, “Matryoshka” is a Russian network that organizes and implements disinformation campaigns. It is considered the largest and most skilled propaganda network coordinated by the Kremlin. Its disinformation campaigns and actions are aimed at undermining trust in and discrediting the West, as well as pro-Western authorities in post-Soviet countries.

It operates mainly on social platforms (X, TikTok, etc.) and distributes videos and articles through bots, which are disguised as real media outlets (e.g. Deutsche Welle, E! News, USA Today, etc.).

Deepfake-generating artificial intelligence technologies, fake titles, and materials are used when generating the videos...

Earlier this year, a fake video, allegedly made by the American news outlet E! News, was widely circulated on social media. The video claimed that USAID... paid Hollywood stars to visit Ukraine and convey messages of support.

The video created the false impression that the source was a real news source. However, international fact-checking platforms and journalists revealed that it was fake and had no connection to official E! News or USAID reports. E! News also denied any connection to the video.