News
The Kremlin-linked bot network known as “Matryoshka” has achieved its biggest success to date: a fake video claiming that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) paid celebrities for trips to Ukraine has amassed more than 13 million views, while a thread summarizing the fabricated clip has gained an additional 12 million — meaning the reach of the original false narrative is now over 25 million.
The video, reposted by Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr., was exposed and shared with The Insider by the “Bot Blocker” project (@antibot4navalny).
According to the project, several fake videos and tweets about USAID's alleged suspension began circulating on X (Twitter) and BlueSky on Feb. 3. These videos featured the branding of major international media outlets, including Voice of America, E! News, and France 24.
Both E! News and Voice of America have since issued statements making clear that they have no connection to these videos.
At first glance, the videos appear to criticize the supposed shutdown of USAID, calling Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump “a**holes” that are “destroying everything democratic America has spent building.” However, they then shift to the topic of USAID support for independent media around the world, implying that the goal of such initiatives is not to promote democratic values but to serve American interests.
The video that broke the record, reposted on X by the social network’s owner Elon Musk, claimed that several well-known actors received large payments from USAID in exchange for their visits to Ukraine: Angelina Jolie ($20 million), Orlando Bloom ($8 million), Sean Penn ($5 million), Ben Stiller ($4 million), and Jean-Claude Van Damme ($1.5 million). Ben Stiller was quick to refute the claim, saying that he had entirely self-financed his humanitarian trip to Ukraine and received no support from USAID.
Jolie traveled to Ukraine between April and May 2022 while serving as a special envoy for the UN refugee agency. Penn made multiple personal visits, meeting with Zelensky as part of his work on the documentary “Superpower,” which he released in 2023 — the film was available for free on the Paramount+ YouTube channel.
Bloom visited Zelensky in March 2023 in his role as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. Van Damme was seen in western Ukraine in December 2022, posing for photos with soldiers, though the purpose of his visit and any potential sponsorship remained unclear.