Olena and Volodymyr Zelensky pay tribute to the victims of the Maidan Revolution in Kyiv | Photo: www.president.gov.ua
This article was first published by Truthmeter.mk (North Macedonia), within the framework of Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Project.
“Storm-1516” is now a coherent and mature system that can be activated by sponsors to discredit European and North American individuals and organizations, especially before major events such as elections. The main target was the Ukrainian government and the Zelensky family, in order to weaken support and assistance from Western countries. For this purpose, they were presented as “corrupt rich people who squander foreign aid”
Author: Miroslava Simonovska
The French state agency for combating disinformation VIGINUM has published an analysis of Russian information manipulations carried out through 77 separate campaigns between August 2023 and March 2025, collectively known as “Storm-1516”. The main target of the “Storm-1516” disinformation campaign was the Ukrainian government and the Zelensky family, with the aim of weakening support and assistance from Western countries. To this end, they were presented as “corrupt rich people who squander foreign aid.”
Although North Macedonia is not mentioned in VIGINUM’s analysis, some of the narratives and campaigns in the report have been published on social networks in the country. The important point that VIGINUM makes is that “Storm-1516” meets the criteria for foreign digital interference and poses a significant threat to digital public debate in both France and other European countries.
What disinformation from “Storm-1516” circulated in North Macedonia?
When looking at the “campaigns” to defame Volodymyr Zelensky and his family mentioned in the VIGINUM report, it is evident that some of them have also circulated in North Macedonia. They often target Zelensky, who is falsely accused of being a “neo-Nazi,” a “drug addict,” a man who misuses European aid money for Ukraine for his own luxuries. His wife Olena Zelenska is often included in the malicious narratives. She is also falsely portrayed as a voracious spender on luxury jewelry in sophisticated exclusive stores.
The most recurrent narrative nevertheless consisted of accusing Volodymyr Zelensky and those close to him of diverting Western aid to spend large sums of money or to acquire luxury properties abroad, in particular in the aim of fleeing Ukraine, which is presented as being on the verge of losing the war. These IOs claim, for example, that the Ukrainian president and his entourage had acquired yachts worth 75 million dollars, a casino in Cyprus, a hotel in Courchevel, the villa of the singer Sting in Tuscany, a house in Saint-Barthélemy, the former residence of Joseph Goebbels, or Adolf Hitler’s car and his “Eagle’s Nest” (Kehlsteinhaus). In August 2023, the first IO attributed to the IMS claimed, via the fake journalist Mohammed Al-Alawi, that Volodymyr Zelensky’s mother-in-law had bought a property in an Egyptian seaside resort for five million dollars. In December 2023, a new operation involved Al-Alawi’s alleged brother, who accused the Ukrainian intelligence services of murdering him following these revelations. The information, published in Egyptian newspapers which were very likely paid for it (see section 3.2), provoked an official denial from the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior, the report says.
In North Macedonia, “Truthmeter.mk” reviewed some of the disinformation that the VIGINUM report indicated as being created by a Russian organized “kitchen.” For example, the disinformation from the report about the alleged yachts “bought by Zelensky,” which were not sold at all, was popular in our country.
In the long list of disinformation about Zelensky and his non-existent “property shopping”, the falsehood about buying a casino in Cyprus, Sting’s villa and winery, the disinformation that Zelensky bought Hitler’s car, the falsehood that Zelensky’s mother-in-law bought a villa in Egypt, etc. are also circulating in the country.
However, these are not the only disinformation noted by the French state agency for combating disinformation.
For example, in July 2024, the IMS circulated a forged invoice intended to make people believe that Olena Zelenska had taken advantage of an official visit by Volodymyr Zelensky in France to buy a Bugatti car worth €4.5 millions. Numerous inconsistencies and inaccuracies confirm that the document was forged, says VIGINUM’s report.
“Truthmeter.mk’s” reviews of this particular disinformation show that in North Macedonia even official media outlets shared it.
In addition to the Bugatti car, “Truthmeter.mk” noticed and reviewed the disinformation that Olena Zelenska allegedly spent $1.1 million on Cartier jewelry.
The report by French VIGINUM concludes that some of the individuals who, within the framework of “Storm-1516,” spread propaganda that Zelensky’s wife, Olena, allegedly “bought jewelry at Cartier worth over a million dollars” were people who were paid actors.
In fact, it was a student living in St. Petersburg who was probably recruited to record the video. VIGINUM has a hypothesis that actors living abroad can be recruited for such operations through online services. The actors of “Storm-1516” try to recruit platforms that are closely related to the content to be placed, that is, individuals who speak the language of the country in which the content is placed. Thus, they used German-language profiles when targeting the parliamentary elections in Germany. When they placed the video that allegedly Zelensky bought the property of the singer Sting in Italy, they used the “Rumble” profile of an Italian conspiracy portal, VIGINUM states.
Among the disinformation noted in the French document, there is another one that has reached the Macedonian-speaking area on social networks, and which “Truthmeter.mk” has noticed. It is the disinformation that Zelensky bought a villa from British King Charles III for $20 million.
In addition to Ukraine, France, Germany, and the United States were targeted ahead of the elections
The targets of disinformation, as stated in the report, were, in addition to Ukraine and France, Germany, and the United States, especially on the eve of the elections. Thus, disinformation was shared by “Storm-1516” that the FBI was wiretapping a facility belonging to Donald Trump, and that Barack Obama was involved in the assassination attempt on Trump on July 13, 2024.
Specifically for the European elections, disinformation has been noted in which Ursula von der Leyen is accused of “helping a Russian metallurgical company circumvent European sanctions imposed after Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.” The Russian opposition in exile has also been targeted by false information, specifically individuals associated with the Anti-Corruption Foundation founded by Alexei Navalny. Navalny died in prison in February 2024.
According to VIGINUM, Operation “Storm-1516” uses photo and video montages, false information, video and audio recordings created with artificial intelligence, as well as videos with paid actors to achieve its goals. They are also overlaid with texts and voices in French, English, Ukrainian, German, Spanish, and Arabic. They are spread through so-called “burner” profiles, which are created and deleted immediately after achieving the goal, and then the content is downloaded or “laundered” through media outlets, after which pro-Russian actors amplify them through their own networks.
The investigation by the French anti-disinformation agency confirms the involvement of individuals and organizations close to the Russian government, including John Mark Dugan, a former American police officer who is in exile in Russia, as well as members of the Prigozhin and Dugin ecosystem.
This information manipulation set known as “Storm-1516” that has been active for over a year and a half is complex, adaptable, and effective in spreading anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western narratives aimed at Western audiences. Since the beginning of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, this ecosystem has invested significantly in coordinating actions across a large network of actors and organizations operating from Russian territory in target countries.
“Storm-1516” is now a coherent and mature system that can be activated by sponsors to discredit European and North American personalities and organizations, especially before major events such as elections. They will likely continue to work to increase the credibility of their content, to circumvent the platforms’ moderation mechanisms. In light of these events, VIGINUM believes that “Storm-1516” fulfills the objectives of foreign digital interference and poses a significant threat to the French and European digital public debate.
