Ahead of Moldovan local elections in October 2023, pro-Russian propagandists hired US celebrities to record videos of themselves calling for the overthrow of Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu on Cameo, a video platform that allows users to pay celebrities to create personalized videos. The Digital Forensic Research Lab found that the celebrities were paid to read a script in Russian, a language most of them likely did not understand. The individual clips were then edited into a video compilation that was first shared on TikTok. The account has since been deleted. The longer edit was later reposted in prominent Telegram channels and reproduced in Russian media and on various other platforms. While researchers could not establish a direct link to the Kremlin with complete certainty, the smear of Sandu followed the modus operandi of a similar Russian-sponsored operation from July 2023. There, Russian operatives had hired celebrities on Cameo to record videos calling for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to seek treatment for alleged substance abuse.