Kremlin bot network spreads articles claiming ISIS not responsible for Crocus City Hall terrorist attack, points fingers at Kyiv, UK, U.S.

The Kremlin's online network for spreading fake news has begun circulating pseudo-journalistic articles detailing those responsible for the terrorist attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall. These articles tell the reader that Ukraine, the U.S., the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI-6), and the so-called “collective West” at large were to blame. The bots are also denouncing claims by the United States government that ISIS was behind the attack, according to analysis carried out by the Bot Blocker / antibot4navalny project (data made available to The Insider ).

Who is behind the fakes?

The scheme used to distribute the material indicates that the articles are being spread by the Doppelgänger bot network (also known as «RRN”), previously exposed by The Insider ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). As with Doppelgänger’s previous campaigns, the “media” being used to spread the current disinformation include:

• spiegel.ltd
• grenzezank.com
• hauynescherben.net
• meisterurian.io
• onnam.life
• and many others

A familiar pattern of “two-tier bots” is also being used: some bots post content on their own, while others share it en masse on Twitter (now known as X) in the comments to other people's posts on completely unrelated topics — such as football matches or TV shows. The network also uses intermediate redirects, with the scope limited by the user's geographic location.