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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.
*A “bot” (originating from the English word robot) is a software program that automatically performs certain human-like actions. Here we refer to common bots on social networks, which generate posts automatically.
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.
*The phrase “troll factory” (Russian: фабрика троллей) refers to organized, coordinated groups or organizations that are created on social media to spread disinformation, manipulative content, propaganda, and shape public opinion. The term became especially popular after the disclosure of the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Saint Petersburg-based organization that was involved in attempts to influence electoral processes in other countries, especially in the West.
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. For example, one of the videos used a public speech by Joshua Kurek, a professor at Mount Allison University in Canada, in which Kurek allegedly says that he is shocked by the stories of his Armenian students about the policy of silencing the memory of the Genocide by the current authorities of Armenia.
“For the last 7 years, official information sources in Armenia have hardly spoken about the Armenian Genocide as one of the most tragic and significant events of the early twentieth century,” Kurek says in the video.
However, in the video, which was published on the university’s YouTube page on October 21, 2024, the university professor is giving a lecture on a topic related to the environment.
The network used the first few seconds of the original video, as well as the professor’s voice, to generate fake text using artificial intelligence.
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.
@roddyfaskell Euronews reports that Armenia ranked first in terms of corruption among Middle Eastern countries. @euronews.tv #Armenia @nikol.pashinyan_pm #pashinyan @abcnews @bbcnews @foxnews ♬ original sound – Roddy Faskell
However, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, Armenia has one of the best indicators among neighboring countries (47 points out of 100). Georgia rankes higher (53), while Turkey (34) or Azerbaijan (22) lag significantly behind.
Another video published under the name of the Turkish news outlet Yeni Şafak claims that Pashinyan takes strong sedatives, and that this was allegedly reported to the news outlet by American neurologist Nancy Andreasen. However, there is no information in open sources to support this claim.
Why was “Matryoshka” created and how does it work?
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.
Matryoshka’s targets: Famous cases
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 (the United States Agency for International Development) 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.
By the way, this false claim was later repeated by the second President of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan.
The network was also actively involved in the disinformation campaign against pro-Western candidate and current president of Moldova Maia Sandu during the presidential elections, using the same methods applied in the campaign against Pashinyan.
Propaganda videos against Sandu contained allegations that she represses her political opponents and leads the systemic corruption in the country.
Nane Manasyan
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