Full Breakdown

Russian Disinformation Campaigns Targeting U.S. Elections: From Ukraine War Narratives to Midterm Manipulation

By Drooid · Sep 19, 2026, 4:10 AM UTC · How we work

Background & Context

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, its disinformation efforts centered on war-related falsehoods, including fabricated claims that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was buying yachts with stolen money and that the United States was operating bioweapons labs in Ukraine.

By the 2024 election cycle, Russian intelligence redirected its focus to U.S. politics, seeking to disparage Democratic candidates and bolster Republican prospects in the upcoming midterms.

John Mark Dougan scheme – An American fugitive police officer living in Moscow, identified as John Mark Dougan, appeared on a Rumble broadcast hosted by a QAnon-aligned presenter. He introduced a silhouette-masked individual who claimed to have been a Kazakhstan exchange student at a Minnesota high school where Governor Tim Walz once taught, alleging inappropriate touching. No such exchange student existed. The story was seeded on a network of fabricated sites—The Boston Times, New York News Daily, and the Miami Chronicle—and quickly spread across mainstream social-media platforms. MAGA influencers Jack Posobiec and Candace Owens amplified the allegation. David Corn, the author documenting these operations, estimates that the false claim was viewed by over 10 million Americans.

Tenet Media payments – RT, the Russian state-controlled broadcaster, allegedly funneled $10 million through the Tenet Media network to several MAGA influencers, including Benny Johnson and Tim Pool. Both influencers have asserted that they were unaware the payments originated from Moscow.

The Senate Intelligence Committee’s bipartisan 966-page report, released August 2020, concluded that Russian interference in the 2016 election was intended to help Donald Trump.

The 2024 “Matryoshka” disinformation network targeted midterm races; audience-reach figures are presented as estimates by the author.

David Corn (author) argues that Russian disinformation succeeds when false narratives are embraced by “real Americans” and notes that many political operatives and influencers appear to act without awareness of foreign funding.

The Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by Marco Rubio in 2020, formally recorded that President Vladimir Putin’s objectives included assisting Trump.

These campaigns demonstrate how a foreign power can exploit partisan media ecosystems to disseminate fabricated allegations, potentially shaping voter perceptions in closely contested elections.

The alleged flow of millions of dollars to domestic influencers raises questions about transparency, foreign-funded political messaging, and the resilience of U.S. information channels.

February 2022 – Russian invasion of Ukraine; disinformation focuses on war-related falsehoods.

2020 – Senate Intelligence Committee releases report linking Russian interference to support for Trump.

2024 election cycle – Russian operators pivot to U.S. elections; Dougan’s fabricated Walz story spreads; Tenet Media payments disclosed.

The claim that the Walz allegation reached over 10 million Americans is an estimate provided by the author; independent verification is absent.

Influencers receiving Tenet Media payments label the funding source as “unknown,” creating a discrepancy between alleged Russian financing and the influencers’ stated awareness.

The sources do not outline specific forthcoming actions, but they highlight the continuing challenge of moderating disinformation on platforms and encouraging responsible conduct among political operatives.