Hollywood actors including Elijah Wood ‘have become unwitting stooges aiding Putin’s Ukraine propaganda as Russia edits their Cameo video messages into propaganda’
Hollywood stars including Elijah Wood and Mike Tyson are being unwittingly used by Russia to “promote anti-Ukrainian propaganda” as part of a coordinated disinformation campaign, according to the latest Microsoft Threat Intelligence report.
Microsoft has identified an “unknown influential actor with ties to Russia” this year, hiring well-known actors on the popular video-sharing site Cameo to record messages that could be taken out of context to undermine support for Ukraine.
“Starting in July 2023, pro-Russian social media channels began distributing videos of celebrities deceptively edited to promote anti-Ukrainian propaganda.
“Short video messages, in which celebrities often ask “Vladimir” to seek help for substance abuse, are edited by an unknown actor and include emoticons and links.
“The videos are being circulated through pro-Russian communities on social media and distributed by Russian state and state media, falsely portrayed as messages to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.”
“Kremlin officials and Russian state propaganda have long promoted the false claim that President Zelensky is struggling with substance abuse; however, this campaign marks a new approach by pro-Russian actors seeking to push this story in the online information space.” – Security Insider memo concluded.
Actors Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings), Dean Norris (Breaking Bad), Kate Flannery (The Office) and Priscilla Presley (Elvis’s ex-wife); musician Shavo Odadjian; and boxer Mike Tyson were named among the campaign’s victims.
Microsoft has concluded that Russian government officials paid celebrities to record personalized messages that could later be taken out of context and used as part of this year’s disinformation campaign.
Vladimir Putin observes a meeting of the supervisory board of the “Russia – Land of Opportunities” platform in the Catherine Hall of the Kremlin in Moscow on April 20, 2022.
Ukrainian soldiers fire an MT-12 or 2A29 Rapier cannon, a Soviet smoothbore 100mm anti-tank gun, on December 7, 2023 in Avdeevka, Ukraine.
Both Ukraine and Russia have recently announced their capture of Avdiivka, where Russia is continuing a long-running campaign to capture the town in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
A tweet from X’s now-deleted “SpriterTeam” account included Wood’s message, taken out of context and appearing to be a call for Zelensky to seek help for drug and alcohol abuse.
In a fact-checking report, the video was allegedly viewed 837,000 times, Newsweek has concluded the video contained “multiple indications that confirm with almost certainty that Wood did not encourage Zelensky to undergo rehabilitation.”
American actor Elijah Wood, best known for his role as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings, was among those believed to have fallen victim to the deception campaign.
Newsweek noted that Wood said that Vladimir, not Vladimir, in the deleted video stated that the video was heavily edited, and noted that Wood never mentioned Zelensky or Ukraine.
“There is no clear message other than that Wood advised someone named Vladimir to seek help.”
Elijah Wood has previously spoken out in support of Ukraine following its February 2022 invasion.
Microsoft in 2023 annual reportwhich takes a deep dive into online security trends, concluded that this year “Russian state actors have expanded the scope of their cyber and influence operations related to the war in Ukraine to target Kiev’s allies” using “a variety of means – from phishing campaigns to zero days” and “to intimidate the Ukrainian diaspora and stimulate protest movements throughout Europe.”
The report found that 48 percent of Russian state and related incursions since last July have targeted Ukrainian entities, with most of the rest targeting entities in NATO member states. The UK, US and Poland were “especially” in the spotlight.
Governments were the most common target (27 percent), followed by think tanks and NGOs (21 percent) and education (11 percent).
In some cases, this included phishing campaigns in which government officials posed as Western diplomats and Ukrainian officials to gain access to accounts that could contain information about Western foreign policy toward Ukraine, Microsoft said.
They also discovered that statesman Forest Blizzard used Exchange Web Services to steal data from the email accounts of energy, defense and air transport organizations based in countries sending aid to Ukraine.
Elsewhere, they found that Russian threat groups are actively working to “sow distrust between the Ukrainian population and the European partners who support Kyiv” at both the state and civilian levels.
In January, Microsoft discovered that Russian actors sent emails and fake documents to spread false information that government officials might seek the forced repatriation of Ukrainians or conscript European citizens for the war in Ukraine, trying to undermine support for the war in neighboring Poland. Latvia and Lithuania among others.
The use of Cameo appeared to be a “new” campaign designed to influence the narrative of the war, Microsoft noted.
Cameo is a popular service that allows users to pay celebrities to record personalized messages, often wishing fans a happy birthday or wishing them luck. More than 50 million people all over the world have announced that they are the creators in 2022.
Vladimir Putin stands in the hall before meeting with his Belarusian counterpart at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 11, 2022.
Ukrainian military personnel of the army aviation brigade prepare a Mi-8 helicopter for a flight to the Donetsk region on December 7, 2023.
Ukrainian soldiers walk through a destroyed city on December 7, 2023 in Avdeevka, Ukraine.
Group portrait of three Ukrainian soldiers on December 7, 2023 in Avdeevka, Ukraine.
A Ukrainian soldier smokes during a breather on December 7 in Avdeevka, Ukraine.
Microsoft suggested that lessons could be learned from the findings by encouraging phishing-resistant authentication methods and greater training for users to screen external communication attempts and be careful about what they share.
Earlier this year, France uncovered a massive Russian disinformation campaign also aimed at undermining Western support for Ukraine.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna cited the participation of Russian embassies and cultural centers in promoting the campaign, which she said illustrates the “hybrid strategy that Russia is pursuing to undermine the conditions for democratic debate.”
Viginum reported that the campaign involved spreading pro-Russian content, impersonating reputable media outlets and government websites, creating French-language news websites with polarizing angles, and coordinating fake accounts to distribute content.