Russia’s Matryoshka bots begin Epstein-themed disinfo campaign, focusing false claims against Ukraine and France

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The Kremlin-linked bot network known as “Matryoshka” has launched a disinformation campaign following the release by the U.S. Justice Department of new documents in the case of Jeffrey Epstein.The campaign was identified by researchers from the Bot Blocker project (@antibot4navalny), who shared their findings with The Insider.

Social media posts presented in the guise of content from major Western media outlets included the false claims that:

• Ukrainian children allegedly became a key resource in Epstein’s operations following the country’s 2014 Revolution of Dignity. A fake video said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was aware of the situation and that he communicated with visitors to Epstein’s island.
• In a video posing as a report from France 24, actress Catherine O’Hara, who died on Jan. 30, was said to have accused French President Emmanuel Macron of protecting a “lobby of perverts.” In reality, the late actress made no such statements.
• RFI allegedly reported that information about ties between French officials and Epstein had been removed from the released documents under an agreement between Macron and Donald Trump.
• A video bearing the Al Jazeera logo claimed that in 2025, 1,005 Ukrainian refugee children went missing in France and that Bill Gates was involved in human trafficking.
• A video falsely attributed to Reuters claimed New Caledonia had become a “new Epstein island” under French protection. It cited fabricated figures of visits by Bill Gates (112) and Prince Andrew (91).
• A fake Socialblade report claimed that the release of the files “triggered a new wave of interest among conservative Europeans in relocating with their families to the CIS countries,” with the number of search queries about obtaining a residence permit supposedly rising by 8000%.
• Gallup allegedly claimed that a video by Vladimir Putin, in which he called European elites “Satanists,” had “garnered more than 4 billion views in the European segment of TikTok.”
• Libération supposedly published a report claiming Epstein financed 55% of Emmaniel Macron’s 2017 election campaign.

The Insider checked the social media accounts of the named outlets and verified that none of the videos or reports had been published by them.