Back in November 2017—when the QAnon conspiracy theory was only known to a tiny group of 4channers rather than a major election issue—it was already being amplified by Russian-backed Twitter accounts, according to a report from Reuters. The news agency says its review of Twitter data shows that Kremlin-backed accounts started exploiting the theory in its very earliest days—sooner than has been previously reported—and that QAnon quickly became the most frequent hashtag used by accounts that Twitter has linked to Russia. In total, the term was reportedly used by Russian accounts some 17,000 times. The Russian embassy in Washington protested its innocence, telling Reuters: “Malicious activity in the information space contradicts the principles of Russian foreign policy, national interests, and our understanding of interstate relations.”