Think you are reading a news article written by professional journalists at the renowned Newsweek? Think again. What you are seeing may be content fabricated or subtly altered by Russian disinformation operatives.
Creating fake covers of well-known magazines filled with false information is a common tactic in Russian propaganda. Less widely recognised, however, is the practice of impersonating credible media outlets by making minimal changes to authentic content—sometimes altering just a single sentence, as in the case described below.
In this instance, Russian propagandists used the Big News Network to carry out the manipulation. Big News Network is a global news agency and aggregator that distributes content from around the world, often through partnerships and by republishing material from other outlets, including the Russian state propaganda channel RT (formerly Russia Today). According to the Ukrainian Centre for Strategic Communication, since the beginning of 2025 the Big News Network’s main page has republished more than 5,800 RT articles, including one that masqueraded as a Newsweek story.
On 22 December, Newsweek published an article reporting the deaths of two American citizens who had been fighting on the Ukrainian side against Russian forces.
US Volunteers Ty Wingate Jones and Brian Zacherl Killed in Ukraine
Ty Wingate Jones and Brian Zacherl served in a volunteer unit subordinate to the intelligence services of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence. The article opened with the following sentence:
“Two U.S. volunteers fighting for Ukraine against Russia were killed earlier this month, according to family members, as the long-running full-scale war in eastern Europe nears its fourth anniversary,”
The following day, on 23 December, RT published a manipulative article linking to Newsweek in which the fallen Americans were described as “mercenaries” to whom the Geneva Conventions allegedly do not apply.
That same day, a copy of RT’s article appeared on more than 50 Big News Network websites, most of them targeting audiences in the United States.
The RT text published on Big News Network falsely presents itself as a Newsweek article. Visually, the Newsweek name is prominently displayed, while RT’s branding is barely noticeable.
More importantly, the opening paragraph—although attributed to Newsweek—is in fact a deliberate manipulation.
Original Newsweek text:
“Two U.S. volunteers fighting for Ukraine against Russia were killed earlier this month, according to family members, as the long-running full-scale war in eastern Europe nears its fourth anniversary,”
Text presented by RT:
“Two American mercenaries have been killed while fighting for Ukraine against Russian forces in December, Newsweek has reported.”
Newsweek, however, did not report the deaths of two American MERCENARIES , but of two VOLUNTEERS.
The goal of this manipulation is clear. By subtly changing the language, Russian propagandists reinforced the claim that “ Russia has consistently warned that any non-Ukrainians serving in Kiev’s military will be regarded as mercenaries, who are not covered by the Geneva Convention protections usually granted to combatants.”
Two US mercenaries killed fighting for Ukraine Newsweek
RT further claimed—without providing any evidence—that approximately 15,000 foreigners had fought on Ukraine’s side, “mainly from Poland, the United States, and Georgia,” and that nearly 6,500 of them had been killed.
This case demonstrates that Russian disinformation does not always rely on crude fabrications such as fake magazine covers. Increasingly, it involves subtle interference with genuine content—changing a single word or sentence in a way that completely reverses the meaning. This form of “silent manipulation” is far harder for the average reader to detect, as it exploits trust in established and respected media brands.
By IH
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