AN INTERNATIONAL DISINFORMATION campaign that was uncovered in June after it targeted outlets including The Journal with pro-Kremlin content has now been directly linked to Russia.

The active campaign, dubbed Operation Overload, involves sending fact-checking groups and researchers misinformation and manipulated content that amplifies pro-Kremlin interests and anti-Ukraine propaganda.

It is seeking to influence journalistic and fact-checking efforts on international events, including the war in Ukraine, the Paris Olympics and the upcoming US presidential election.

Since the start of the year, fact-checkers and journalists working for almost 200 outlets have been sent thousands of emails directing them to fake news stories promoted by anonymous X accounts and pro-Russian Telegram channels or sites.

In many cases, the emails contain manipulated images with fake headlines beside the logos of legitimate news outlets to add a sense of authenticity to fake news stories.

Those targeted include The Journal, The Guardian, BBC, The Daily Mail, Fox News, The New York Times, the Press Association, Der Spiegel, and the investigative website Bellingcat.

The email campaign has sought to deplete journalistic resources by encouraging reporters to chase or verify tip-offs – usually sent via a Telegram link.

Unusually, the campaign also seeks to disseminate Russian propaganda by getting Western news outlets to publish fact-checks debunking them, thereby widening the reach of certain narratives.

Emails sent during the Paris Olympics – where Team Russia was barred from competing – focused heavily on disinformation narratives about security and the safety of spectators, including false claims about terrorist threats, public health and safety issues.

One email sent to The Journal in early August included a claim that President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach personally benefitted from “having more LGBT members in the ranks of Olympic athletes”.

Another email claimed that infrastructure from Paralympic athletes was not ready yet, that infrastructure in the Olympic village was crumbling, and asked: “The Olympics: Why did everyone hate Paris?” 

The campaign has also pushed anti-Ukraine narratives, including emails to The Journal suggesting that Poland’s education system “is changing because of Ukrainian refugees” and that Ukrainians are manipulating Wikipedia to mislead people about the war.  

More recently, emails are pivoting towards the United States, such as claims that American funeral homes are “changing the gender of corpses”, that “trans and LGBTQ+ supporters” were responsible for 74% of school shootings.

Finnish group CheckFirst, which has published a new report into the campaign today, found that the emails were likely Russian in origin.

It linked QR codes used as part of the campaign to a Russian marketing agency and analysed emails written in Russian, and found that an account which sent emails in August 2024 was linked to a Russian IP address.

“Operation Overload is a clear example of coordinated inauthentic behaviour designed to manipulate public perception,” the group concluded.

“With over 71,000 emails received to a carefully curated list of contacts, the operation has used sophisticated tactics, including dynamic QR codes, anonymous inauthentic accounts on X (formerly Twitter), Telegram channels and a network of fake media websites, to spread disinformation.”

It said the campaign presented an ongoing threat to Western democracy and urged newsrooms to remain vigilant and enact proactive measures to prevent its success.

You can read the latest report about the campaign here, as well as CheckFirst’s initial findings from June here.