The article mentions how the same account was used in 2014 to attack journalists outside the U.S. covering the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shootdown over Ukrain

The article mentions how the same account was used in 2014 to attack journalists outside the U.S. covering the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shootdown over Ukraine. This lends credibility to the idea that it was Russian-sponsored actor(s) using this tool/M.O. over time.