Aussie Cossack hits back at US report on fake voter fraud video

An Aussie pro-Kremlin identity has hit addressed reports he paid for a fake voter fraud video to be posted ahead of the US election.

An Australian pro-Kremlin identity says it is “absurd” to suggest he was part of an attempt to influence US voters by paying a right-wing influencer to spread misinformation.

Simeon Boikov, aka the Aussie Cossack, labelled American broadcaster CNN the “masters of fake news” after it linked him to a viral video implicating Haitian migrants in voter fraud.

An anonymous man, operating under username @AplhaFox78, was the first person to publish the fake video on X to his more than 650,000 followers.

The man from Massachusetts told CNN he was paid US$100 by Mr Boikov to post the clip, which gained more than 2.6 million views.

Mr Boikov declined to corroborate whether he does pay AlphaFox but said he paid “lots of people”, including his own employees to post content on social media.

His employees publish 130 posts per day on sites including X and Telegram, he told news.com.au.

“I’m not paying on behalf of a government,” Mr Boikov said.

“I’m entitled to do that (pay employees).”

The video in question.

The clip purported to show voter fraud.

The AlphaFox account, which regularly posts pro-Donald Trump memes, has since deleted the video.

It purported to show alleged voter fraud in the state of Georgia, in which a Haitian migrant claimed to be voting for Kamala Harris multiple times.

“We are from Haiti. We can to America six months ago and we already have our American citizenship,” a man says in the video.

“We’re voting Kamala Harris. Yesterday we voted in Gwinnett County, and today we’re voting in Fulton County.

“We invite all Haitians to come to America and bring families.”

Voter fraud has been a frequent talking point of Mr Trump and his supporters ahead of the election, and continues on from the former president’s conspiracy that the 2020 vote was “stolen” by the Democrats.

The video was addressed by Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as an example of “targeted misinformation we’ve seen this election”.

“This is obviously fake and part of a disinformation effort,” he said. “Likely it is a production of Russian troll farms.”

Mr Boikov told news.com.au that CNN’s story was a “nothing burger” and claimed the broadcaster was the “masters of fake news”.

Simeon Boikov has sought refuge from Australian authorities at the Russian consulate in Sydney. Picture: Supplied

AlphaFox reportedly told the US news outlet Mr Boikov had also paid him to post other memes and videos about 10 times previously.

“It started with memes, and it seemed innocent,” he told CNN.

He went on to claim he had believed the Haitian video was legitimate: “People need to be more vigilant when they share things. I never wanted to misinform anyone.”

In an article published on Tuesday, CNN reported sources had confirmed multiple payments were sent from Mr Boikov to the Massachusetts man.

Mr Boikov said it was “absurd” to suggest a $100 post could change the outcome of an election and claimed the left was “looking for a scapegoat”.

“It’s an absurd story,” he said.

Mr Boikov was last year granted Russian citizenship after claiming he was a “victim of persecution” in a letter to the communist nation’s Australian consulate.

He has sought asylum at the consulate in Sydney since at least January 2023, when NSW Police issued an arrest warrant over an alleged assault at a pro-Ukraine rally in late 2022.

Mr Boikov’s account was recently banned on X, and he has previously been linked to spreading incorrect information about the identity of the Bondi Junction stabber in 2024.

He told news.com.au “I agree it is hard to verify information” when speaking on the Haitian migrants video, but claimed he was not acting on behalf of the Kremlin.

“There’s nothing covert here,” he said. “The Russians never tell me what to say.

“It’s my own opinion. What I think.”

Originally published as Aussie Cossack hits back at US report on fake voter fraud video