Russian disinformation network Storm-1516 is flooding the West with fake stories, and JD Vance repeated one of them
A Russian disinformation network known as Storm-1516 has been operating in the West since 2023, actively spreading fabricated stories and interfering in the political processes of foreign states. The group is believed to include former employees of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s troll factory and has been linked to the GRU. Storm-1516 has been accused of interfering in elections in the United States, Germany, and Hungary. One of the group’s most recent operations involved publishing a fake BBC report claiming that a stolen Paul Cezanne painting had been spotted in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office — which, like everything else Storm-1516 puts out, was a lie. Bloomberg has published a detailed account of the group, calling it Russia’s most powerful weapon in the disinformation war. Meduza summarizes the key findings from the investigation.
- Storm-1516 spreads fabricated stories accusing politicians in Europe and the United States of corruption, election fraud, sexual violence, and other crimes — using fake videos, counterfeit websites posing as news outlets, and anonymous bloggers with many thousands of followers. Bloomberg identified more than 190 fabricated stories the group produced that appeared online since August 2023.
- The videos Storm-1516 produces feature forged documents and false statements from purported witnesses and victims, all following a similar template and frequently presented in the format of a news report. The audio and video are processed using artificial intelligence.
- The fabricated stories circulate primarily through X, though they also appear on TikTok, Telegram, Facebook, and Instagram. The account responsible for the most fake stories is the X account Johnny Midnight, which has published almost 60 items and has more than 630,000 followers. The account’s true owner is unknown. Since February 2024, the user has carried a blue checkmark indicating paid status, which increases the visibility of posts. After Bloomberg contacted X’s management, the account was banned — but reinstated a week later, with no comment from the platform.
- More than 40 percent of all fabricated stories Storm-1516 has produced target Ukraine, with another third focused on electoral processes in other countries. Many of the fakes concern Zelensky personally: that he had ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; that Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska spent $1.1 million on jewelry and $4.5 million on a Bugatti sports car; that Zelensky holds a Russian passport and owns an apartment in Moscow; and that Zelensky bought his mother a $3.2 million apartment in the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai — which was then struck by an Iranian drone. Fact-checkers at news organizations have debunked all of these claims. Stories about Zelensky continue to appear every month, and sometimes every week.
- Some of the fakes spread by the Russian disinformation network have since been repeated by prominent politicians. In November 2023, a false report claimed that Zelensky’s associates had purchased two yachts worth $75 million using money stolen from Western military aid. Brokers involved in the yacht sales denied it. Then-Senator JD Vance, now the U.S. vice president, publicly repeated the claim when explaining his opposition to continued U.S. support for Ukraine. Former U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also shared the story.
- Russia’s global information war against the West is directed by Sergei Kiriyenko, the first deputy head of the Presidential Administration, according to two European intelligence officials who spoke to Bloomberg. Western officials believe Storm-1516 is backed by Russian military intelligence, the GRU. Ukrainian intelligence says GRU Unit 29155, led by Oleg Kushnir, paid for the group’s servers and the artificial intelligence tools used to produce the fake news, and that GRU officer Yury Khoroshenky coordinates Storm-1516.
- Content for the group may be produced by the Foundation to Battle Injustice, a pseudo-human-rights organization linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin that European Union authorities have sanctioned. The EU also believes Storm-1516 is supported by John Mark Dougan, a former American police officer who has lived in Russia since 2016. Western countries have also sanctioned philosopher and propagandist Alexander Dugin, who is believed to have coordinated the spread of Storm-1516‘s fabricated narratives.
- In the first quarter of 2026, Storm-1516 members were producing fake stories at twice the rate of the same period the previous year. In late March and early April, the materials appeared almost daily. Several dozen items targeted Hungary, where parliamentary elections were underway — elections in which Prime Minister Viktor Orban lost to opposition figure Peter Magyar. More than 25 items concerned Armenia, where parliamentary elections are expected in June, and incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The group also fabricated materials about French President Emmanuel Macron.
- Storm-1516 attempted to interfere in the U.S. elections in 2024 and in elections in Moldova and Germany in 2025. Bloomberg suggests that ahead of U.S. congressional elections in November, Russia will intensify its disinformation campaign in an effort to undermine Americans’ trust in democratic institutions and the electoral process.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
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«Шторм-1516»
«Шторм-1516» — условное название сети, которая, как считается, стояла за многими кампаниями по дезинформации, направленными против стран Запада. Такое название сети первой дала компания Microsoft в апреле 2024-го, когда обнаружила, что в сети расходится российская дезинформация об Украине. В дальнейшем Microsoft переименовала группу в «Neva Flood».