Russian Deepfake Videos Target US Midterm Elections
Russian disinformation operatives reportedly created deepfake videos of Hollywood celebrities attacking Democrats during US midterm elections, using stolen footage and voice cloning technology. The campaign, attributed to the Kremlin-linked Matryoshka group, spread the videos across social media with false branding from CNN, prompting complaints from the affected actors and the network.
What happened
A Russian disinformation operation attributed to Matryoshka (also known as Operation Overload) released deepfake videos in mid-September 2026 targeting US midterm elections. The videos depicted Hollywood celebrities attacking Democrats and using voice-cloned audio of actors including Alyson Hannigan, Emma Caulfield, Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Roberts, Ed Begley Jr., and Eric Roberts, with fabricated statements claiming Democrats threaten children, spread antisemitic conspiracy theories, and promote transgender ideology.
The videos were created using footage stolen from the internet, including clips from a 2023 Gucci campaign and recordings uploaded to Cameo, a platform for celebrity personalized videos. The deepfakes were branded with CNN's logo and spread across social media with hashtags such as '#AllDemocratsAreCriminals', amplified through bot activity.
Reported impact
Multiple actors whose likenesses were used expressed distress. Emma Caulfield stated she felt 'violated' and described the video as 'a soulless idiot'. Ed Begley Jr. said 'I had no idea this was happening' and publicly disagreed with the false statements. Eric Roberts said his likeness was 'manipulated and used to deceive the public'.
CNN objected to the 'unauthorised' use of its branding, stating the videos 'are not CNN content and have no affiliation with CNN'. Disinformation researchers described the campaign as 'the first salvo' in Russia's targeting of the November 2026 midterm elections.
Index analysis
Disinformation researchers attributed the deepfake videos to Matryoshka, a Kremlin campaign known for distributing doctored videos impersonating news organisations and amplifying them through inorganic bot activity. Expert Darren Linvill from Clemson University noted that 'the Russians have targeted every US election with some kind of social media campaign since 2016'.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.