By Alice Lee and Madeline Roache | Published on Nov. 10, 2026

Kremlin propagandist John Mark Dougan, a former Florida deputy sheriff who fled to Moscow in 2016, appeared disillusioned with his position within the Russian influence operation machine and frustrated with the internet limitations posed by the government, according to leaked documents reported by Latvia-based news site The Insider.  

“My work schedule is unbearable. I’m doing the work of an entire technical team, but I’m earning less than a [Russian delivery app] Yandex courier. I’m tired. I’m burned out. I don’t think I can keep this up much longer,” he appears to have told his friend Yuri Khoroshenkiy, a Russian intelligence officer, the leaked documents show.

On Nov. 10, 2026, The Insider, which describes itself as an investigative outlet and was founded in Russia in 2016 and staffed largely by exiles, published a report with its analysis of a data leak of what it described as all of Dougan’s personal files, messages, and chatbot prompts. The leaked documents show conversations with various figures from Russian intelligence planning about how to plant false claims against Ukrainian and Western leaders to maximize their online spread. They also show his dealings with Western media, including NewsGuard.

Much of the leaked documents confirm what NewsGuard, among other news outlets, has reported about Dougan since 2023:

• That Dougan was behind a false claim that then-vice presidential candidate Tim Walz groomed and sexually abused one of his students, by creating a video purporting to be from a former foreign exchange student from Kazakhstan who detailed the supposed abuse. 
• That Dougan was behind a network of 167 inauthentic news sites that disseminated disinformation, disguised as local news outlets. 
• That Dougan created a documentary in 2021 about nonexistent U.S.-run bioweapons labs in Ukraine, an allegation Russia used to support its justification for invading Ukraine in 2022.

The documents also show what appears to be Dougan’s lament over Russia’s internet limitations that apparently made it more difficult for him to spread disinformation such as by creating fake websites, after authorities blocked access to WhatsApp and Telegram in Russia earlier this year. “Whatever these stupid bastards in the Russian government are doing to block the internet now, if they continue like this, it will completely shut us down. I’m almost ready to call citizens to action to rebel against this extreme censorship. It’s absolutely infuriating,” Dougan wrote to fellow propagandist Valery Korovin from a Moscow hospital, where he was undergoing surgery. 

“Our publishing capabilities have been dramatically reduced over the past week,” he continued. “I’m going to start a campaign to incite the public against the Nazis running [Russia’s federal body for media supervision] Roskomnadzor. Their policies are leading to the deaths of people.”

The same day that The Insider published the documents, Dougan’s X account was apparently hacked, posting the link to his own leaked documents and also spreading messages criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin, even accusing him of being a pedophile. “I was thinking a lot lately and that is my conclusion – Putin is a criminal and must be arrested, and the war in Ukraine stopped,” the X account posted, “I am deeply sorry for helping to spread the Kremlin disinformation all these years, that was a mistake, if not, a crime.”

However, it seems highly unlikely that Dougan himself posted these messages, given his prominent role in promoting pro-Kremlin narratives, particularly about the war in Ukraine, and the obvious dangers of taking on Putin and the Kremlin so frontally. (See NewsGuard’s Dougan Russian Disinformation Depository.) Such statements would expose him to repercussions from the Russian authorities. Russian bloggers, journalists, and online commentators have faced criminal prosecution and imprisonment for criticising the government.

The messages also show signs of being written by a non-native English speaker, a NewsGuard analysis found. For example, messages confuse articles “a” and “the” in a manner typical to Slavic language speakers, and phrases appear to have been literally translated from Russian, using the wrong prepositions.

NewsGuard contacted Dougan via Signal on Nov. 10, 2026, seeking comment on the leaks and hack, and, in fact, seeking to confirm that he is alive and in Russia, but did not receive a response. 

NewsGuard is examining the leaked documents and continuing to attempt to contact Dougan  and will report additional findings as this story develops.

Who Is John Mark Dougan?

• NewsGuard has reported extensively on Dougan’s role in advancing pro-Kremlin false narratives. In 2023, NewsGuard found that he operated a network of about 140 sites that masqueraded as local news outlets and published false claims about the Ukraine war and used AI to rewrite articles from other sources without credit. Many of these sites are no longer active.
• In 2024, NewsGuard named Dougan “Disinformer of the Year” for his role in spreading false narratives that drew millions of views, including claims that Ukrainian troll factory interfered with the U.S. election, Zelensky purchased King Charles’ Highgrove estate, and Ukraine sold Hamas weapons that were donated from the West.
• In interviews throughout 2024 with NewsGuard, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the BBC, Dougan repeatedly denied being behind a network of sites pushing pro-Kremlin falsehoods. He has long claimed to be an independent actor with no ties to Russia. “I absolutely deny that I’m part of any Kremlin plot,” he told NewsGuard in early 2024.
• In March 2023, Dougan left threatening messages for NewsGuard’s co-CEO Steven Brill and his family, even impersonating an FBI officer, after NewsGuard published a report that apparently resulted in YouTube taking down Dougan’s video advancing a widely debunked claim about supposed bioweapons laboratories in Ukraine. Dougan also published footage of Brill’s home, shot from a drone.

Isis Blachez contributed reporting.

Edited by Sofia Rubinson, Dina Contini, and Eric Effron.