Deepens Its Playbook with New Websites and Targets
Essential information
- Published
- 18/09/2025 03:21
- Modified
- 18/09/2025 09:29
- Tags
- 2025-09-18 ai-generated content deepfakes disinformation elections political fragmentation russian influence social media ukraine
- Related entities
- 1 intrusion sets (apt), 6 techniques (mitre), 9 others
Description
CopyCop, a Russian covert influence network, has significantly expanded its operations since March 2025, creating over 300 new fictional media websites targeting various countries. The network, likely operated by John Mark Dougan with support from Russian entities, aims to undermine support for Ukraine and exacerbate political fragmentation in Western countries. CopyCop's tactics include using deepfakes, AI-generated content, and impersonating media outlets to spread pro-Russian narratives. The network has widened its target languages and geographical scope, now including Turkey, Ukraine, Swahili-speaking regions, Moldova, Canada, and Armenia. While its core objectives remain unchanged, CopyCop has made marginal improvements to increase its reach, resilience, and credibility, including the use of self-hosted large language models for content generation.