Russia Launched Covert Influence Campaign To Undermine Us Candidates Supportive Of Ukraine, Lawmakers Say

The Russian government has launched a covert online influence campaign to sway public opinion and undermine both Democrats and Republicans sympathetic to Ukraine ahead of the midterms, two key Democratic lawmakers warned Wednesday.

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) and House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (D-Conn.) told reporters Wednesday that the findings on Russia were detailed in a classified report on foreign election interference sent to their offices by the U.S. intelligence community earlier this week.

“It’s a carnival out there,” Himes said of Russia’s digital efforts, which he said aim to generate “a sense of chaos and anarchy.” According to Himes, Russian disinformation operations cover a range of topics, from sowing distrust in U.S. institutions to questioning the validity of voting machines.

Warner said the report suggested that Moscow is using artificial intelligence tools to spread these ideas faster and target Americans more effectively.

While the lawmakers did not specify which political candidates were being targeted, they stressed that any political figure supportive of Ukraine — on both sides of the aisle — was likely on Russia’s radar.

Notably, they said the U.S. intelligence community has not seen evidence that Russia has tried to hack election infrastructure or political campaign networks.

Russia has long been called out by the U.S. and its allies for its interference activities. Russian intelligence officers were linked to hacks on the Democratic National Committee and the email accounts of campaign staff for then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. That year, Moscow also backed widespread influence campaigns against Clinton.

And again in 2018 and 2024, Russia was accused of spreading disinformation aimed at influencing U.S. elections.

“In every election cycle since 2016, Russia has spread disinformation that has … gone against Democrats,” Warner said.

Beyond the U.S., Russia has also targeted elections in other countries, including during recent elections in Georgia, Moldova and France.

The details of at least one Russia-linked operation have already emerged. Information operations analysis company Graphika released findings Wednesday that Storm-1516 — a Russian-linked influence group active since 2023 — created and posted deepfake videos on X accusing Texas Senate candidate James Talarico of sexual assault.

Social media platform X separately reported last week that it had removed more than 13,000 accounts linked to election-related disinformation campaigns from Russia, Iran and China, which the platform said targeted “candidates and public figures across the political spectrum.”

Spokespeople for ODNI did not immediately respond to a request for more details on the classified report. Spokespeople for the Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment on the influence allegations.

Warner and Himes noted that the report also detailed instances of Chinese and Iranian influence attempts, but only called out Russia for its significant efforts.

A spokesperson for House Intelligence Committee Chair Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) criticized Warner and Himes for disclosing the information, telling POLITICO Wednesday that the lawmakers had “cherry-picked” details to disclose to the press.

“This is at best an egregious breach of trust which would have consequences for the employees of the intelligence community, and at worst a clear attempt to deceive the American people,” the spokesperson said. “Further, it is always interesting that the Democrats are perfectly willing to highlight Russian actions, but never those of the Chinese Communist Party.”

A spokesperson for Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) did not respond to a request for comment on the report’s findings.

Himes said Crawford arranged a briefing for Intelligence Committee lawmakers on election threats last week, and Warner said he and Cotton have joined in a “bipartisan” effort to push ODNI for documents on various intelligence-related policies. Himes said the House Intelligence Committee will hold another classified bipartisan briefing on election threats next week.