Russian Disinformation Campaign Targets Olympic Athletes with AI Voice Cloningpublished at 13:31 GMT
Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist
Milan – A coordinated disinformation campaign originating from Russia is attempting to undermine support for Ukraine by targeting athletes and fans at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. The operation utilizes fabricated news stories and, alarmingly, artificial intelligence to clone the voices of trusted figures.
“What truly sets Matryoshka apart is the use of AI voiceovers to impersonate the voices of trusted figures,” says Pablo Maristany de las Casas from the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD) believe tank.
The tactic involves seamlessly switching from genuine video footage to stock footage, overlaid with a deepfake narration that convincingly mimics the real person’s voice. This allows the network to insert fabricated statements that appear authentic, according to media forensics expert Darren Linvill at Clemson University, who explains, “They take a real video of a real person but part-way through they switch to stock footage overlaid with a deepfake narration that sounds just like the real person so that they can insert absurd lies that appear more authentic.”
One example involves a manipulated video of Olympics chief Kirsty Coventry during a press conference on Euronews. Watch the video here.
The AI-generated voice falsely claims Coventry expressed shock that Ukrainian athletes came to Milan “for crazy political PR,” accused them of aggressive behavior and stated she had “never encountered people this irritating, I swear.” However, footage from the actual press conference demonstrates Coventry never made these statements.
BBC Verify has identified the same technique being used to create a deepfake of an American commentator at the Winter Olympics, and the Canadian broadcaster CBC has debunked an AI video targeting one of their journalists as well.
Even as the individual reach of these fake videos has been limited, collectively they reveal a sophisticated effort to erode international support for Ukraine. The network, known as “Matryoshka,” previously targeted a British 999 call handler last year by cloning their voice using AI, as reported by BBC Verify.
“The operators of Matryoshka know that its content is more credible when its delivered, seemingly, by a trusted person,” adds ISD’s Maristany de las Casas. The use of AI voice cloning represents a significant escalation in disinformation tactics, raising concerns about the potential for manipulation during major international events.
