South African influencers-for-hire target Ukraine’s president in influence campaign, researchers say

Researchers identified a coordinated influence-for-hire campaign in which over 40 South African social media accounts—including influencers linked to a local influencer marketplace—amplified pro-Russian narratives and anti-Zelensky hashtags, garnering roughly 290,000 views; the activity is presented as part of a wider pattern of Russian-linked disinformation operations across Africa.