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Russia’s Matryoshka bots use scandal over Ukrainian skeleton racer’s Olympic disqualification as fodder for disinfo campaign
On Feb. 12, Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Winter Olympics in Milan due to his insistence that he be allowed to compete in a helmet bearing the portraits of Ukrainian athletes killed in Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. In the days that followed, the Kremlin-linked bot network “Matryoshka” launched a disinformation campaign around the topic. Researchers with the Bot Blocker project (@antibot4navalny), which tracks Russian bot activity on social media, shared their findings with The Insider.
On social media, fake videos styled as posts from major Western news outlets and research groups are promoting several false claims about the disqualification of Heraskevych. They include:
- A fake post bearing the logo of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) claimed that Ukrainian troops had launched a front-line flash mob in support of Heraskevych under the slogan “Remembrance Is Not the Violation,” revealing their positions and leading to the mass deaths of Ukrainian servicemen.
- A fake Bellingcat report that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is considering suspending Ukraine’s entire team from the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
- A fake report that a former IOC president proposed disqualifying all Ukrainian athletes from international competitions.
- A fake Reuters post claiming former Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov had published contact details of IOC members on social media with the caption “the final solution to the Olympic question”
- A fake Fox News story claiming the Under Armour brand had banned Ukrainian athletes from appearing at public events in the company’s clothing.
- A fake DW Sports post alleging that Dutch gold medalist speedskater Jutta Leerdam had called Heraskevych “a mediocre athlete who became famous for idiotic behavior.”
- A fake story from independent Russian outlet Agentstvo.Novosti alleging that relatives of the deceased athletes depicted on Heraskevych’s helmet are preparing a collective lawsuit against him.
- A fake post from French outlet RFI claiming French police detained four Ukrainians who allegedly tried to attack a car carrying the IOC president’s sister and her child.
- A fake USA Today story about an unnamed Ukrainian attacking rapper Snoop Dogg and his security detail in Milan after he allegedly refused to take a photo with the Ukrainian team.
- A fake story from Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera about Italian police recording more than 50 incidents involving drunk Ukrainian fans.
The disinformation is spread through short vertical videos designed to resemble posts by the named outlets and organizations, using their logos.
The Insider has obtained links to the original posts and evidence provided by Bot Blocker. These confirm that the accounts spreading the disinformation narratives belong to the Matryoshka network. The Insider is not publishing these links so as to avoid the further dissemination of disinformation.
The Heraskevych scandal
The actual events involving Heraskevych took place at the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. On Feb. 9, during skeleton training runs, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, or IBSF, informed the IOC that Ukrainian athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych — the Ukraine team’s flag-bearer — was competing in a helmet bearing portraits of more than 20 Ukrainian coaches and athletes who had died after February 24, 2022 — the start date of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The IOC determined the helmet violated Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter (which bars political statements at sporting venues) and demanded that part of the equipment be replaced.
Heraskevych refused, and on Feb. 12, 45 minutes before the start of competition, IOC President Kirsty Coventry personally came to see him. After a 10-minute conversation, she was unable to influence the athlete’s decision, and the IBSF jury disqualified him from competition. An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was rejected, with the arbitrator expressing sympathy for Heraskevych’s position but confirming that the rules had been followed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the “Olympic movement should help stop wars, not play into the hands of aggressors.” Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, called the disqualification a “moment of shame” for the IOC. Heraskevych himself pointed to what he called inconsistency: Israeli skeleton racer Jared Firestone competed wearing a kippah with the names of 11 athletes killed at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, and American figure skater Maxim Naumov took a photo of his deceased parents onto the ice. Neither was punished.
What is Matryoshka?
The “Matryoshka” hybrid operation is a coordinated Russian disinformation campaign that experts link to a network of bots, “trolls,” and affiliated anonymous media outlets. Its goals are to spread large volumes of fake content, create artificial waves of information, and shape public opinion both inside and outside Russia. The Bot Blocker project coined the operation’s name, describing the structure as being layered like a matryoshka nesting doll: each “doll” hides another, with one set of bots masking others and disinformation circulating on multiple platforms and channels, making its false narratives harder to trace.
The operation includes several core components. The first is the creation of numerous bot accounts styled as real users, research initiatives, and independent regional media outlets. These accounts generate dozens — sometimes hundreds — of posts daily, mimicking local language, tone, and context. The second component involves the coordinated dissemination of fake stories across multiple platforms, including X (Twitter), Telegram, Bluesky, and closed chat groups. The bots appropriate the logos of Western media outlets or human rights organizations in order to make their posts appear credible.