Russian influence operation linked to attacks targeting Democrats in Maine, Ohio, Texas
PolitiFact ·
Mimicking a midterm election “October surprise,” social media posts and videos accused high-profile U.S. Senate candidates of sexual misconduct and abuse.
Videos gained millions of views making such allegations against Democrats Rep. James Talarico in Texas, Sherrod Brown in Ohio and Troy Jackson in Maine. But this was no October surprise; researchers have attributed the false claims to a coordinated disinformation campaign they say appears designed to boost Republicans.
It’s also not new: The tactics and narratives point to the work of Storm-1516, a Russian influence campaign that also distributed false narratives during the 2024 presidential election.
In 2024, some of its claims were that voters were committing election fraud. Others targeted former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
This year’s influence campaign is employing similar tactics, experts said, targeting Democrats in high-profile races.
Storm-1516, which researchers have tracked since 2023, uses a “rotating cast” of both Russian and non-Russian influencers to promote false claims in the U.S. and other countries, said Joseph Bodnar, senior analyst for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Based on the narrative being spread and the target nation, he said, the people behind the campaign will pay specific influencers to amplify the content.
“They’re basically buying an audience for a specific narrative,” he said. Some of the influencers knowingly participate in the Russian influence campaign, while others are unaware of who’s behind the content they spread. The people behind the campaigns can mask their identities.
The number of false narratives Storm-1516 is spreading ahead of the 2026 midterms appears to be lower than in 2024, but they have nonetheless gained traction. The focus so far has been on candidates, but researchers said more claims could surface about the integrity of the election itself.
“We fully expect them to create narratives undermining trust in the election on and after election day,” said Darren Linvill, a Clemson University professor who researches and tracks Storm-1516.
Earlier in October, an X account shared a video of what it said was a former student of Talarico — named Zyon Lewis — accusing Talarico of sexual misconduct. PolitiFact rated that Pants on Fire . Storm-1516 had used artificial intelligence to create a video that impersonated a real man, who has previously praised Talarico.
Accounts known to be Storm-1516 amplifiers shared the video, according to an analysis by social media analytics company Graphika.
This is “almost identical” to a claim the influence campaign spread against Walz in 2024, Bodnar said. PolitiFact also rated that Pants on Fire .
Since 2024, Storm-1516’s tactics have evolved. Back then, the campaign used actors to read scripts with false statements. Today, Storm-1516 uses AI.
The campaign also altered real news reports to promote falsehoods. Changing an actual Oct. 21 report from Cleveland 19 News about Ohio’s gubernatorial race, Storm-1516 created what appeared to be an on-air report that baselessly claimed four of Brown’s former staff members accused him of abuse.
In the original report, reporter Nicole Vransky wore the same red blouse she’s seen wearing in the manipulated video. The manipulated version altered her lip movements and words to make it appear as though Vransky was reporting on Brown.
Sophia Egar, one of Brown’s former staff members named in the video, told PolitiFact that the allegations attributed to her were false. “During my internship in Senator Brown’s office in 2019, I was treated with nothing but respect and professionalism,” Egar said.
Haya Akbik, another woman featured in the video, told The Associated Press the claims were “completely made up.”
Storm-1516 also targeted Jackson, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Maine, by altering a real WABI-TV news report about Jackson having outbursts as Maine Senate President, including throwing a water bottle. The Storm-1516 video edited and changed the report to make it sound as though Jackson had threatened his staffers with an axe.
PolitiFact previously rated a claim related to the water bottle incident, that Jackson had hit a female colleague, False .
Linvill said although many of the social media accounts involved in the 2024 campaign are no longer involved, the network has expanded. Targeting Democratic candidates is consistent with Russia’s interests.
“Russia’s most important issue, foreign or domestic, is the war in Ukraine,” Linvill said. “If Republicans maintain more power, Trump will have more of a free hand, and it is clear he has in recent months pulled back on his support for Ukraine.”
Bodnar agreed, saying the Trump administration has been friendly with Russia and that means Russia “can get more done on the geopolitical stage” if Trump allies stay in power.
Linvill said engagement with Storm-1516’s 2024 posts has declined in 2026 compared with 2024. This could be because conversations around midterm candidates are not as high-profile as a presidential election.
Linvill said on Oct. 28, fewer than 7,000 people mentioned ‘Troy Jackson’ on X. But 25% of those were talking about Russia’s narrative.
“As a total number, that’s not very much,” Linvill said. “As a percentage of the conversation, it’s huge.”
Bodnar said there’s no “centralized narrative” influence actors can play off of in a midterm election, making it a harder target than a presidential election.
Linvill warned people not to share videos they haven’t watched. “Many of these Russian fakes look fake when you actually watch them. They aren’t always well made, but the Russians count on normal human behavior. People often share things they have not engaged with because they trust the source and like the headline,” he said.
Bodnar said for videos that appear to be newscasts, viewers can check the news outlets’ websites to see if they are real.
Steven Weisman, a Bentley University cybersecurity expert, said people who encounter dubious videos can examine them for signs of manipulation or AI-generated content.
“There are many aspects to determining if a video is manipulated or an AI-created deepfake,” Weisman said. “Digital forensic examination of the video focuses on unusual facial movements and in particular lip movements that do not precisely match the speech.”
Oftentimes, unnatural speech patterns are an indication that the voice has been cloned or an AI-generated lip dub is being used. Weisman also said that deepfakes often feature unusual eye blinking patterns and static facial expressions.