Russia-linked disinformation networks are using fake news videos, fabricated allegations, and impersonated media brands in an apparent attempt to influence Germany’s upcoming state elections.

The campaign, known as Operation Matryoshka, is focused on the September 6th election in Saxony-Anhalt and was already active during Germany’s 2025 federal election.

The campaign takes its name from the Russian matryoshka doll because its false narratives are distributed through multiple layers of accounts and websites.

Anonymous research group, Antibot4Navalny, who helped uncover the Germany-focused campaign, says one account publishes material before other bots redistribute it.

How the smear campaign works

By using the same design layout as outlets like the BBC, fake news appears more plausible and is integrated into someone's daily scroll, absorbed without question.

The material includes videos, images, memes, journalistic formats, and fake front pages, with the BBC and German broadcaster ARD among the brands reportedly impersonated.

According to Deutsche Welle, one fake video targeted Berlin mayor Kai Wegner with a murder allegation of a professional tennis player, while exploiting the fact that his name had previously been associated with tennis.

Wegner had indeed played tennis during a January 2026 blackout in Berlin “to clear his head,” and as a link with tennis was established. The trolls were able to pounce on this to fabricate a murder allegation. No tennis player had actually been reported missing.

Left Party candidate Eric Stehr was falsely accused of murdering his grandmother, killing someone out of jealousy, and being involved in secret sex parties.

I was supposedly the murderer of a model whom my boyfriend or girlfriend had cheated on me with – both versions were given,

Left Party candidate Eric Stehr told ZDF.

The root of the disinformation

Four sources told Reuters that German security services believed the campaigns were centrally directed from Russia.

Reuters also reported that the operation was allegedly conducted through several companies and used social media to distribute videos carrying the logos of reputable media outlets.

Operation Matryoshka has not, however, been conclusively linked to a specific Russian government institution. Those fake stories are then placed on pro-Russian websites or platforms such as Telegram before being pushed across mainstream social networks.

The campaign reportedly uses sites including the Pravda network before moving content onto platforms such as X, TikTok, and Bluesky.

It appears designed to undermine politicians critical of Moscow while supporting parties that favor closer relations with Russia. And there are various reports of troll farms used for duplicitous means.

Julia Smirnova of Berlin’s Centre for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy told Deutsche Welle that the current activity continues a longer Russian strategy of supporting pro-Russian parties while discrediting other candidates.

This influence campaign has been active on several platforms since September 2023. Its targets have included the federal election, elections in Moldova and Armenia, and the Olympic Games in France.

Julia Smirnova told Deutsche Welle.

German authorities said the targets were politicians critical of the Kremlin, while both the far-right AfD and far-left BSW favor closer ties with Russia, and were therefore not targeted.

Huge local election looming

There is an important local election approaching on September 6th in the central-eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt, and speculation is mounting about the leading party.

The far-right AfD is expected to perform strongly, and could fetch around 40% of the vote.

Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution said it was aware of the activity and that its purpose was to influence the election result.

Broadly speaking, these types of smear campaigns are not only targeting Germany. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in particular, dragging politicians' reputations through the mud has happened in a variety of ways, as Moldova saw last year, for example.

Germany has responded to its targeting by creating a new center dedicated to countering hybrid threats and foreign interference.

The Joint Defence Centre for Hybrid Threats, established in June, includes a working group focused on disinformation and foreign interference.

German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt described the wider threat as “the shadow war of the 21st century” and said the attackers’ goal was to destabilize Germany.