US officials blame Russian actors for a “fake” video showing a man destroying mail-in ballots

US officials on Friday (October 25) blamed “Russian actors” for a viral video purporting to show the destruction of mail-in ballots for Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state.

The video shows a man intentionally destroying Trump mail-in ballots from the state's Bucks County.

However, the video was deemed “fake” by the Bucks County Board of Elections on Thursday. The board said the envelope and other materials shown in the video were not authentic and did not belong to them.

On Friday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a joint statement saying the video was part of Russia's disinformation agenda.

“Russian actors produced and amplified a recent video that falsely shows a person tearing up ballots in Pennsylvania,” the statement said.

“This Russian activity is part of Moscow's broader efforts to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the U.S. election and stoke divisions among Americans,” it said.

Researchers including Darren Linvill, co-director of Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub, also debunked the video and said it was linked to the Kremlin's disinformation network called “Storm-1516.”

The joint statement accused Russia of trying to “undermine confidence” in the integrity of the Nov. 5 election.

But U.S. officials said they expected Russia and other foreign actors to step up such interference efforts.

US researchers claim Storm-1516 previously produced fake videos targeting the campaigns of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her vice president Tim Walz.

US officials believe that in addition to Russia, China and Iran are also trying to influence the American election and stoke “divisive narratives.”

A statement from ODNI previously said: “These actors are likely aware that undermining confidence in elections weakens the legitimacy of our democracy and, as a result, makes the United States less able to effectively pursue policies that serve their interests goes against it.”

(With contributions from agencies)