Russian CopyCop Network Expands: 200+ Fake News Sites Target US, Canada, and France

According to GBHackers, the Russian covert influence network known as CopyCop has expanded its disinformation operations, creating over 200 new fake websites since March 2025 to target audiences in the United States, France and Canada. The network now comprises more than 300 fabricated outlets established in 2025 alone, with France identified as the primary target after 141 new sites were registered between February and June 2025.

Insikt Group analysis notes that CopyCop, also designated as Storm-1516, has orchestrated a rapid expansion of its fake news ecosystem throughout 2025, including impersonating local outlets and political parties in multiple languages. The operation is attributed to John Mark Dougan, a US citizen based in Moscow, with support from the CGE and Russia’s GRU, a link corroborated by the US Department of Treasury.

US operations account for 35 newly registered domains, while Canada has at least two sites aimed at Alberta’s separatist movements. The network has also deployed self-hosted large language models based on Meta’s Llama 3 to generate AI-produced content at scale, and operates two uncensored copies of the model configured for article generation to advance pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian narratives.