Ahead of local elections in Germany, more than 180 fake posts were spread on social media as part of the Russian information operation “Matryoshka.” The campaign’s main goal was to discredit candidates, undermine trust in democratic institutions, and intensify tensions between the country’s eastern and western regions.
This is reported in an investigation by Deutsche Welle.
According to journalists, the fake materials began appearing on X, Bluesky, and TikTok from June 24. Information about them was compiled by the research collective Antibot4Navalny, which specializes in exposing Russian disinformation campaigns.
The fake messages targeted candidates in elections to the state parliaments of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, as well as participants in elections to Berlin’s House of Representatives and local elections in Lower Saxony, which will take place in September.
Researchers concluded that the campaign affected representatives of nearly all of Germany’s leading political forces, with the exception of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).
Experts identified two main narratives of the Russian information operation:
Discrediting politicians through fabricated accusations of murder, corruption, drug use, or sexual scandals. In particular, one edited video used artificial intelligence to baselessly accuse Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner of murdering a professional tennis player. Police confirmed that no such crime occurred and that no investigation is being conducted against the politician.
Deepening the divide between East and West Germany. To that end, forged videos purportedly on behalf of Eurostat claimed that most residents of the western part of the country consider German reunification a “historical mistake.” Eurostat said it did not create such a video and did not conduct any related survey.
False claims were also circulated online about alleged discrimination against residents of the eastern states, a possible new division of Germany in 2030, and even plans to build a new Berlin Wall.
A direct link to the Kremlin has not yet been officially proven. At the same time, the OSINT group Gnida Project links the “Matryoshka” campaign to the Storm-1516 operation, which researchers say is coordinated by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.
Pablo Maristani de las Casas, an expert at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, noted that the disseminated materials have a distinctly pro-Russian, anti-German, and anti-European character.
- The head of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution said the level of sabotage, espionage, and other security threats in the country is rising. Russia views Germany as one of its main adversaries.