Johnson did not respond to requests for comment. Similar requests made by those spreading stories of false assassination attempts have gone largely unanswered. Those who responded defended their posts and videos.
“We reported this as a hoax,” Dore said.
Andrew Colvette, Kirk's representative and producer of his podcast, said Kirk noted at the time that the claim could not be verified.
“We are very happy to learn that Ukraine is not conducting an assassination attempt against Tucker,” Colvette said of the former Fox News host. “It’s a good thing.”
Storm-1516's video production team likely operates out of an office in St. Petersburg and appears to employ diaspora actors, Microsoft researchers said. Based on analysis of methods and personnel, investigators believe the group is part of the Internet Research Agency, a disinformation factory founded by Yevgeny Prigogine that meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Prigozhin, a former ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin , led a swift coup against the Russian military in June 2023 and Died months later in a plane crash
Storm-1516 is loosely linked to the Kremlin by people, products and strategy; Microsoft researchers believe it is run by the Center for Geopolitical Expertise, a liberal think tank that, According to Estonian intelligenceWestern-organized press visits to Ukraine for Putin activists. The Foundation to Fight Injustice, a former Prigogine propaganda operation masquerading as a human rights organization, released the fake Storm-1516 videos, researchers say.
Other groups have similar goals but different methods. Known as “Storm-1099”Lookalike”Operation, which used fake news websites – of which there were dozens Recently seized By the Department of Justice – and a network of bots to cause confusion. Storm-1679 is about feature films that emulate American documentaries and political thrillers, including Paris Olympics.
Storm-1516's Cheap Videos Echo Cold War-Era Propaganda Tactics The most memorable might be the “Operation Denver“The one who creates and spreads false conspiracy theories that the AIDS virus was designed by the Pentagon.
A known KGB disinformation whitewasher, the Indian newspaper Patriot, on July 17, 1983, sowed lies about AIDS. (Archive.org)
A known KGB disinformation whitewasher, the Indian newspaper Patriot, on July 17, 1983, sowed lies about AIDS. (Archive.org)
This campaign It all started with a letter From an anonymous but “well-known” scientist with insider information published in 1983 patrioticA pro-Soviet Indian newspaper.
By 2024, Russia's tactics have evolved, creating more legitimate-looking, more sophisticated fake news sites Botnet and the increasing use of AI. Some Russian disinformation projects Professional production Paid actors are involved, while others Brilliant documentary With AI-generated celebrity hosts. Some target Russian citizens and others the outside world.
Storm-1516's videos mostly rely on real people, i.e. A Cameroonian woman Saint Petersburg, who journalists revealed posed as a Cartier intern in a viral TikTok video falsely abusing Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska in October 2023.
In recent months, videos have apparently turned to AI, anonymizing subjects to further thwart fact-checking efforts.
Hany Farid, a professor of digital forensics at the University of California, Berkeley, identified evidence of AI manipulation in several recent Storm-1516 videos, including one in July of a man posing as a luxury car salesman to sell false claims. Zelenska A 4.5 million euro Bugatti sports car.
Blurred faces, missing teeth and tongues, differences in sound and face shape, and videos in which a person's body remains strange can all be giveaways, Farid said. He called some fakes “shockingly bad.”
“Could they make better videos? Of course,” said Farid. But “these videos basically work. You don’t need to make fake Hollywood-style videos to make people start to doubt everything.”
One of the latest Storm-1516 hoaxes features a supposed ranger describing the illegal killing of an endangered black rhino. Holding a Zambian flag and an image of a giraffe, the man said he accompanied a diplomatic mission on safari last year. To his surprise, he said, a woman shot and killed a young rhino named Kasuba. “An American female politician. Her name was Kamala.
Despite the lack of evidence in the video, it went viral. Via Russian Telegram, via an English-language Zimbabwean news site, then “The Intel Drop” and Normal Verified Promoter to his hundreds of thousands of followers on X.
The story seemed to stop there. Some posts even admitted that the video damaged credibility: “If this is real, he is worried,” he wrote Chay BowesAn Irish commentator and contributor to Russian state media network RT, in a since-deleted post.
It doesn’t matter – maybe the next one will happen.
