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A network of Russian websites masquerading as American outlets is spreading AI-generated fake news to influence voters ahead of the U.S. presidential election. An analysis by the BBC has revealed that one of the key players in this disinformation campaign is a former American police officer who moved from Florida to Moscow.
We present a condensed translation of the article by BBC Verify staff. The original English version can be found on the BBC News website.
Zelenska in the Center of a Fake Sensation
The story could have been a real bombshell, if only it were true: Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, allegedly bought a unique Bugatti Tourbillon sports car for €4.5 million ($4.8 million) during a visit to Paris for the Normandy landing anniversary in June 2024—using funds provided to Ukraine through U.S. military aid.
This story appeared on a little-known French website just a few days ago and was quickly debunked as a fake. Experts pointed out errors in the invoice posted online. The source of the information emerged only in a strangely edited, possibly even AI-generated video.
Disinformation and Its Consequences
Bugatti issued a strong rebuttal, calling the news fake, and its Paris dealership threatened legal action against those behind the fabricated story. However, by that time, the fake news had already gone viral, with influencers spreading the hoax across the internet.
A link shared on X (formerly Twitter) by pro-Russian Trump supporter Jackson Hinkle was viewed by more than 6.5 million people. Several other accounts spread the story among millions of other X users—according to site statistics, at least 12 million users in total.
It was a fake “article” on a fake “news site,” designed for wide dissemination on the internet. It was part of a Russian disinformation campaign that BBC Verify uncovered last year.
New Target: American Voters
A new BBC Verify investigation, in which we examined hundreds of articles on dozens of sites over six months, revealed that this campaign now has a new target—American voters. Dozens of fabricated stories traced by the BBC appear aimed at influencing voters in the U.S. and sowing distrust in society ahead of the November presidential election.
Fake News and Their Objectives
The Bugatti story touched on several key themes in the Ukrainian narrative: corruption in Ukraine, U.S. spending on aid to Kyiv, and the inner workings of French elites. However, another hoax that went viral earlier this year was directly related to American politics.
It was published on a site called The Houston Post—one of dozens of sites with typically American names that are actually administered from Moscow. It claimed that the FBI illegally wiretapped Donald Trump’s residence in Florida.
The Fake News Industry
Thousands of news articles, apparently created using AI, are posted on dozens of sites with very “American” names—Houston Post, Chicago Crier, Boston Times, DC Weekly, and more. Some of them bear the names of newspapers that ceased to exist several years or even decades ago.
Most of the articles on these sites are not outright fabrications. Instead, they are based on real news from other sites, apparently rewritten by AI.
How a Former Policeman Became a Disinformation Spreader
One of the main participants in the operation is John Mark Dougan, a former U.S. Marine who worked in law enforcement in Florida and Maine in the 2000s. He later created a website designed to collect leaks about his former employer—the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.
On this site, alongside fakes and rumors, Dougan published genuine information, including home addresses of police officers. In 2016, the FBI raided his apartment, after which he fled to Moscow.
Since then, he has written books, reported from occupied areas of Ukraine, and appeared at Russian think tank meetings, military events, and on a channel owned by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Looking Ahead
The campaign Dougan is involved in is increasingly shifting focus from stories about the war in Ukraine to stories about American and British politics. The fake story about the FBI wiretapping Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence was one of the first publications entirely devoted to U.S. politics, without mentioning Ukraine or Russia.
Experts believe the scale and sophistication of the operation are similar to previous disinformation campaigns in the West orchestrated by the Kremlin. They also warn that the volume of content being posted and the increasing sophistication of fakes could become a serious problem ahead of the November elections in the U.S.
Despite numerous rebuttals, news on fake sites continues to gain traction, spreading among millions of internet users. This poses a threat to democratic processes and requires ongoing efforts to combat disinformation and fake news.
The BBC has sent inquiries to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassies of the United States and the United Kingdom but has not received responses at the time of publication.
