Institute for Strategic Dialogue Reports Russian-Aligned Operation Overload Using Purported AI-Generated Impersonations Across January to March 2025

Researchers at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) report that Operation Overload (also known as Matryoshka or Storm-1679) is a Russian-aligned campaign leveraging purported AI-generated voiceovers and visual impersonations to spread false or inflammatory content across platforms. The campaign reportedly involved at least 135 discrete posts analyzed by ISD in early 2025 targeting institutions and individuals, including one purported viral video claiming USAID funded celebrity trips to Ukraine (see Incident 1061).