Russia’s state-run Channel One showcased what it said were French newspaper front pages criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — but the covers were fabricated.
During the talk show “Vremya Pokazhet” (“Time Will Tell”), host Ruslan Ostashko claimed “two major French outlets are criticizing Zelensky for being unwilling to negotiate,” and displayed mocked-up front pages of Libération and Le Parisien with the headlines “Why is the whole world waiting for one man?” and “Why does Ukraine keep the war going?”
In reality, those covers never appeared in the French press, according to the fact-checking project Provereno. The January 27 edition of Libération featured French journalist and lawmaker François Ruffin on its front page. Le Parisien led that day with an investigation into a New Year’s Eve fire at a Swiss resort that killed 40 people. The fakes copied real design elements — subheads, layout and masthead details — to mimic the genuine editions.
Analysts with the “Bot Blocker” project say a full set of the fake covers first appeared across a network of accounts linked to the “Matryoshka” operation. Accounts on X (formerly Twitter) with proven ties to the network posted three covers at once. They spread via old or hacked accounts showing artificially inflated view and repost counts but little real engagement. The images were then pushed to media outlets and fact-checkers, and mirrored on TikTok.
This is among the first times visuals tied to “Matryoshka” have been used so prominently on a major Russian state TV channel, Bot Blocker told The Insider. The project found the dissemination follows a prearranged chain of accounts that:
- have zero replies,
- show artificially pumped-up views/likes/retweets,
- are often old, abandoned and likely hacked,
- post and retweet in sync on the same days,
- send batches of fake links to fact-checkers by email.
A coordinated chain is used to amplify the fake covers on Twitter and Telegram before they reach national TV. Before Channel One aired them, the counterfeits appeared January 28 on the Telegram channel “Voennyi obozrevatel” (“Military Observer”) — one around 14:00, another around 15:05 Moscow time. They later circulated as a set that also included a fake La Tribune cover. Early posts in this wave appeared on “Voennyi obozrevatel” and “Odessa Za Pobedu!” (“Odessa For Victory!”) channels.
“The source is already producing 5–10 fake videos a day (as well as mock covers, graffiti and more),” Bot Blocker told The Insider. “If that volume of ‘creative’ material starts getting TV airtime, propaganda will move to another level in building an alternative reality — first domestically, and soon in pro-Kremlin echo chambers abroad, like the network of Germany-focused Telegram channels”.
The influence campaign known as “Matryoshka” has been active since at least September 2023, first described by the Bot Blocker project. The core tactic: distribute anti-Ukraine fakes through a coordinated web of accounts.
The bots work in tandem. One account posts a supposed graffiti photo from Los Angeles depicting Zelensky in a derogatory way. Another account then contacts journalists, asking them to verify the image. The network often uses videos discrediting Ukraine, stamped with the logos of well-known media outlets to create the impression of trusted reporting. After The Insider began covering the operation, “Matryoshka” even started publishing fakes in The Insider’s name.
France’s government service Viginum found that these materials first surface in Russian-language Telegram channels, including “Sheikh Tamir” (about 440,000 subscribers) and “VRuka KremlyaZ” (about 27,000). Since September 2023, Viginum says, Russian channels have seen a marked rise in boilerplate fake content, often spread via copy-paste.
Viginum also notes similarities between “Matryoshka” and the Reliable Russian News (RRN) operation, known as Doppelgänger, which has been linked to Russia’s GRU military intelligence and the Defense Ministry. Analysts say the overlap could indicate the same structures are producing the content.
As further evidence, The Washington Post reported — citing documents — that the “Sheikh Tamir” Telegram channel was referenced in materials from a so-called “Center C.”
The outlet wrote that the center may be tied to the Russian presidential administration and coordinate overseas information operations.
