Germany monitors Russian disinformation ahead of state elections

German security authorities are monitoring Russian attempts to influence state elections in September through targeted disinformation campaigns, security sources have said.

Videos circulating online seek to discredit politicians and parties that are not considered friendly towards Russia, the sources said. All parties except the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) have reportedly been targeted.

The number of videos is believed to be in the low hundreds. They carry the logos of German media outlets in an apparent attempt to make them appear credible and have been distributed on platforms including X, although many have since been deleted.

The campaigns are said to be part of the so-called Matryoshka (Russian doll) operation, which was also observed during last year's German federal election.

Voters in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt are scheduled to elect a new state parliament on September 6, followed by elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin on September 20.

According to the security authorities, Russian actors initially sought to deepen divisions between eastern and western Germany, including through false claims that children from eastern Germany were being bullied at schools in the west.

They then allegedly tried to discredit local politicians by falsely accusing them of embezzlement or sexual offences.

Government sources said such actions formed part of the broader hybrid threat posed by Russia to Germany.

They said the campaigns were backed by an entire disinformation ecosystem involving both state and non-state actors and formed part of a long-term strategy.

In the short term, the actors were using every opportunity to divide and polarize German society, the sources said, adding that the methods were constantly evolving, including through the use of artificial intelligence.