An alarming trend is emerging across Europe as pro-Russian operatives increasingly impersonate legitimate journalists and media outlets to spread propaganda. The campaign — part of a wider effort to undermine Western credibility and bolster Moscow’s narratives — involves publishing fabricated stories under the names of real reporters and established news organizations.
Among the victims is Romain Fiaschetti, a French entertainment journalist who recently discovered his name and photograph on a story he never wrote. The article, published in June on a fake site called CourrierFrance24, alleged that French nuclear waste company Orano bribed Armenian officials to dispose of France’s nuclear waste — a claim later proven false by both French and Armenian authorities.
“I saw my name and my headshot on the story’s byline, except I never wrote it,” Fiaschetti told Euronews’ fact-checking unit, The Cube. The fake outlet mimicked legitimate French media by combining the names of Courrier International and France 24, making it appear credible. The story was later amplified by Azerbaijani media and pro-Russian social media accounts linked to the disinformation network Storm-1516.
Fiaschetti said the experience left him shaken. “I was scared that I might receive threats from people angry about the story,” he said. He has since filed a police complaint for identity theft, though the investigation’s progress remains unclear.
Other journalists have faced similar experiences. British arts reporter Helen Brown was stunned to see her photo appear beside a political story on a bogus “London Telegraph” site, falsely linking Ukraine’s president to a luxury property embezzlement scheme. “It’s terrifying that my image was used to give a fake story credibility,” Brown said. “It shows how easily journalists’ reputations can be manipulated.”
In Romania, political journalist Radu Dumitrescu — who investigates disinformation campaigns — found his name attached to a fabricated story accusing Moldovan President Maia Sandu of embezzling U.S. aid funds. “You never expect it to happen to you,” Dumitrescu said, adding that his small newsroom lacks the resources for a prolonged legal battle to have the site taken down.
Experts say these impersonation tactics are part of a broader, low-cost propaganda model. “Most of these operations are manual, not sophisticated,” said Guillaume Kuster, founder of CheckFirst, a Finnish firm monitoring online disinformation. “For as little as $10 a month, you can set up a campaign that imitates professional media.”
Kuster urged affected journalists to report impersonations to online platforms, noting that the EU’s Digital Services Act requires companies to remove fraudulent content upon notice. “These mechanisms are crucial,” he said. “Otherwise, disinformation will keep exploiting the trust people place in journalism.”
