The Russian “Matryoshka” bot network has launched a campaign on social media promoting claims that Ukraine operates “secret prisons” where military personnel and foreigners are tortured. Researchers with the Antibot4Navalny project, which tracks pro-Russian bot activity on social media, provided The Insider with information on more than 10 fake videos and posts.
The content, which features fabricated images of foreign newspaper front pages, is designed to resemble outlets and organizations including France 24 and Euronews, as well as the Human Rights Watch group and even the United Nations. All of the posts center on an incident that took place Nov. 2 in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka outside Kyiv, where local residents said dozens of military personnel had been discovered in the basement of a private home.
Videos circulated by Matryoshka claim that a secret prison was uncovered in the Kyiv Region on Nov. 2, where members of the Azov unit allegedly held dozens of military personnel — along with a 14-year-old boy who showed signs of beatings and torture. The bot network adds further unverified claims, including allegations of mass graves and the involvement of Ukrainian intelligence. Several videos also claim that protests are being planned in France to demand an end to aid for Ukraine. The posts encourage viewers to share the videos with their relatives and friends.
The main fabricated narratives include:
- Azov fighters allegedly kidnapped Europeans for ransom and then killed them. A video bearing the logo of Polish broadcaster TVP World claims that two Polish citizens may have been among those held in the “secret prison.” The kidnappers allegedly demanded 30,000 euros for their release, but contact with the hostages was lost after the money was handed over. The video also claims that two French volunteers who fought on Ukraine’s side may have been kidnapped.
- A video styled as a Human Rights Watch report claims that hundreds of secret prisons operate in Ukraine. Citing the rights organization, it alleges that hidden basements are used for torture, killings, and blackmail.
- French publication Franc-Tireur is falsely presented as reporting that a mass grave containing the bodies of 64 people was discovered on the grounds of a purported secret prison in the Kyiv Region.
- A video designed to look like a Euronews report claims that Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, knew of the existence of secret prisons in the country. Its creators allege that European partners repeatedly warned Kyiv that disclosure of information about torture could undermine support for Ukraine among EU countries.
- Another video, styled as material from the UN initiative “Stop Rape Now — UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict,” claims that the supposedly “freed” 14-year-old boy was also subjected to sexual violence. The creators allege that such crimes were routinely committed in “secret prisons” and that people in France now intend to demand that President Emmanuel Macron’s government stop funding Ukraine.
At the same time, images are being circulated that imitate the front pages of Western publications, including La Croix and Libération, falsely claiming to present evidence of “crimes committed by Volodymyr Zelensky.” The Israeli publication The Jerusalem Report is even falsely portrayed as reporting on a “revival of Nazism” in Ukraine.
The Insider has links to the original posts and materials provided by Bot Blocker confirming that the accounts that published them belong to the Matryoshka network. The newsroom is not publishing direct links in order to avoid helping spread the false material.
What is Matryoshka?
Antibot4Navalny’s researchers coined the name Matryoshka to describe a Russian operation that produces and spreads fake stories through a coordinated infrastructure of bots, trolls, and anonymous platforms. Its aim is to create artificial information “noise” and manipulate perceptions of events both inside Russia and abroad. The Antibot4Navalny project named the operation after the eponymous Russian nesting doll — the bots hide behind one another, and disinformation is spread in layers across different platforms, making the source harder to identify.
The mechanism works in two ways. First, it creates large numbers of fake profiles posing as ordinary people, independent media outlets, or think tanks. These accounts generate dozens of posts a day, imitating local styles of speech. Second, identical content is launched simultaneously across multiple social media platforms. In order to appear convincing, the bots use the logos of well-known Western media outlets and human rights groups.
