Oh it's personal: These are the top viral Russian fake news stories about European politicians

As Moldova prepares for the snap parliamentary election on Sunday, the eastern European country’s authorities are registering a Russian disinformation campaign on an unprecedented scale, aimed at derailing the country’s EU path through vote meddling.

Personal attacks on Moldova's pro-European President Maia Sandu make up a significant chunk of the Kremlin's all-out campaign, lobbing outlandish allegations through a network of anonymous websites, sometimes spoofing real-world news outlets.

Deliberately mimicking Western media, one website ran a fabricated story titled “Moldovan president in celebrity sperm scandal,” falsely using the name of a real reporter.

It alleged that Sandu, who is unmarried and does not have children, was purchasing sperm from gay celebrity donors such as Ricky Martin and Elton John to have a child.

“The article seeks to discredit Sandu by weaponising gender stereotypes and targeting her personal life, while eroding her political reputation,” said the report by Reset Tech, a global not-for-profit that monitors digital threats to democracy and Russian online influence operations since 2022.

Another article on a different fake news website referenced as its primary source a report by the EU-sanctioned Russian Foundation to Battle Injustice, which accuses Sandu of running a child trafficking campaign via Ukraine to pedophile networks in Europe.

Friedrich Merz slaughters family of polar bears

Meanwhile, Chancellor Friedrich Merz became a victim of a Russian disinformation campaign even before he was elected to Germany's top office.

In February, German researchers working with the Robert Bosch Foundation discovered networks of hundreds of fake social media accounts promoting pro-Russian narratives and demonising Friedrich Merz.

One fake news article falsely claimed Merz suffered from an "emotionally unstable" personality disorder and that he had tried to take his own life in 2017, backing the allegations with fabricated medical records.

Russian officials led by former President Dmitry Medvedev further targeted Merz, comparing him to World War II Nazi German propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.

Recently, a false story about Merz emerged under the banner of a fake outlet calling itself “Toronto Journal” after the German chancellor’s visit to Canada for the G7 summit in June.

The story claimed that Merz shot dead a mother polar bear and her two cubs, going as far as to cite fake witnesses who allegedly “described” what they called “senseless slaughter” of the polar bear family next to an image of a bloodied bear.

But arguably the biggest fake claim scandal involving Merz also included French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Macron, Merz and Starmer 'cocaine on a train' claim

Back in May, a slew of viral social media posts alleged that Merz, Macron and Starmer were caught taking cocaine on their trip to Kyiv.

At the centre of the claims was a video showing the three leaders together on a train from Poland to Ukraine, ahead of a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reaffirm their support for his country.

Social media users allege that a white object next to Macron was a bag of cocaine, which they claim he hurriedly removed, and that the object next to Merz's hand was a spoon used to take the drug.

The Russian officials joined the disinformation campaign once again, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova posting on her official Telegram channel that the trio "got high" together.

The French Presidential Office commented on the fake story, dismissing claims made by Russia about a paper tissue allegedly seen during European leaders' visit to Kyiv.

"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Élysée Palace reacted, showing a close-up of the actual serviette in question.

Mocking Russian claims, the French Presidential Office added a description to the picture, saying: "This is a tissue. For blowing your nose."

Macron and the 'gay lobby' deal

Macron has been a target of fake claims since his first presidential campaign in 2017, when the Kremlin-orchestrated fakes claimed he got elected with the support of a “very wealthy gay lobby”.

The allegations further said that Macron was chosen to be president as part of a CIA-run scheme or “similar mind-control program.”

In the run-up to the 2022 French presidential elections, Russian attacks on Macron further intensified, involving France's First Lady Brigitte Macron. 

Fake stories were spread by Russian outlets claiming the two are blood relatives who have committed incest and contributed to the conspiracy theory about Brigitte Macron’s alleged gender transition. 

In another falsified take, Russian fake-news propaganda outlets fabricated a story claiming a French surgeon was murdered to silence him over alleged revelations about Brigitte Macron’s gender.

The story was published under the name of French journalist Audrey Parmentier, who publicly stated she had nothing to do with it. 

The website where the story was published had been created just a few days before the story ran and was filled with content in French on various topics to give the fake site credibility.

The fake story on the surgeon's alleged assassination was then spread by Russian outlets and social media accounts and gave a renewed push to the conspiracy theory that Brigitte Macron was born male, which had been circulating for several years. 

These claims have recently gone even more viral, prompting Macron and his wife to file a defamation lawsuit in the United States against conservative podcaster Candace Owens, accusing her of spreading false rumours that the first lady underwent gender reassignment.

Kamala Harris' hit-and-run

When it comes to the US, Russia's disinformation campaign used a different approach over the past year. In the run-up to the 2024 presidential elections, Moscow-affiliated actors focused their personalised attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. 

One of the fabricated stories falsely claimed that Harris left a 13-year-old girl paralysed after an alleged hit-and-run in San Francisco in 2011. The investigation by Microsoft later revealed that the story was fake.

The staged video showed a paid actor appearing as the alleged victim on a fake website for a non-existent San Francisco news outlet named KBSF-TV.

Another Russia-backed fake news article falsely claimed that Kamala Harris killed an endangered rhino during a visit to Africa. 

Kremlin-affiliated groups also created a fake website which looked very similar to the official campaign website of the Harris campaign. Completed with Harris election slogans and colours, it falsely outlined a policy platform that included fully open borders, abolishing voter ID requirements, and other controversial proposals.

Moscow implemented a different strategy for Donald Trump, however. When the Republican candidate and now US president refrained from harsh criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, not calling him an aggressor in Moscow’s war against Ukraine, the Kremlin-affiliated fake news machine did not attack Trump personally and instead focused on spreading disinformation aimed at eroding US support for Kyiv. 

One such video, a fabricated E! News report, falsely claimed in February that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) paid movie stars to visit Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. The claims were verified and debunked. 

E! News told Reuters after the posts had been shared by Donald Trump Jr and Elon Musk that the video was not authentic and did not come from them.

Further fake videos appeared, supposedly showing Ukrainian soldiers burning effigies of Trump or his supporters. One fake clip depicted soldiers saying Trump must not be allowed to take office and should “never be president again.”

Multiple investigations debunked the video. Other clips, just as fake, depicted Ukrainian soldiers burning Trump’s books or calling him a coward.

According to US intelligence, Russia has sought to support Trump in the presidential elections and after his victory, believing he would reduce American backing for Ukraine and perhaps the NATO alliance with the ultimate goal of undermining America’s global leadership by dividing its people and undermining support for its institutions, way beyond Washington’s support of Ukraine.

Who is behind Russia’s viral fake stories?

Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Centre first identified the Kremlin-backed group Storm 1516 in 2022. Operating across continents, in different languages, and on various platforms, this group is known to be responsible for some of the most viral fake news stories. 

Using fake bylines or names of real journalists, and creating AI-generated videos under the fabricated logo of real news outlets, the group is targeting politicians and voters worldwide. 

According to Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center, the group developed a distinct technique in 2024 for combining videos with AI-generated audio impersonations of celebrity and expert voices. 

Various misleading stories have reached millions of views on social media in several countries, often generating public debates at the highest levels.

With all of its sophisticated tools, the operation aims at attacking Ukraine and its allies, discrediting Vladimir Putin’s political opponents and undermining the electoral process in countries deemed “enemies” by the Kremlin.

In May, the French government published its VIGINUM report stating that since 2023, the Storm1516 cyber attack group has been used in 77 Russian information campaigns targeting France, Ukraine and all Western countries.

“The Storm-1516 attack group is reportedly linked to a complex network of individuals and organizations acting from Russian Federation territory, some of whom are particularly close to the Russian Government, which suggests close links with the propaganda machine deployed by Russia”, the report revealed. 

Researchers investigating the Storm 1516 operations and techniques have pointed out that the cyberattack group’s goal is not so much to convince as it is to confuse the audience, leaving them uncertain about what is fact and what is fiction to ultimately spread doubt.