Kremlin-linked Matryoshka bot network spreads disinfo about a looming hantavirus pandemic in Europe, despite scientists pointing to low risk

The Kremlin-linked “Matryoshka” bot network is spreading videos and images disguised as content produced by reputable Western media outlets warning readers of a looming hantavirus pandemic after an outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius. The Antibot4Navalny project, which monitors the network’s activity across social media, shared its findings about Matryoshka’s latest campaign with The Insider. Meanwhile, epidemiologists have assessed the risk of a hantavirus epidemic, let alone a pandemic, as low or very low.

The fake videos and images are being posted on X and TikTok. Bots are placing them in comments under posts by well-known fact-checkers, demanding that the information be verified, and are even sending them to journalists’ personal email addresses. Views, reposts, and likes on X are being artificially inflated.

In one video that uses the logo of the media outlet France 24, Matryoshka paints a truly apocalyptic picture, claiming hantavirus has already been detected in 210 people across 60 French cities. It also claims France’s healthcare system and economy have been so weakened by support for Ukraine that the country will be unable to cope with a new epidemic, which it says could have more severe consequences than the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.