Russia reactivates its trolls and bots ahead of US midterms

Researchers have identified a series of Russian information operations to influence American elections and, perhaps, erode support for Ukraine

- STEVEN LEE MYERS

The user on Gab who identifies as Nora Berka resurfaced in August after a yearlong silence on the social media platform, reposting a handful of messages with sharply conservative political themes before writing a stream of original vitriol.

The posts mostly denigrated President Biden and other prominent Democrats, sometimes obscenely. They also lamented the use of taxpayer dollars to support Ukraine in its war against invading Russian forces, depicting Ukraine's president as a caricature straight out of Russian propaganda.

The account was previously linked to the same secretive Russian agency that interfered in the 2016 presidential election and again in 2020, the Internet Research Agency in St Petersburg, according to the cybersecurity group Recorded Future.