Deutsche Welle Fact Check has uncovered more than 180 fake posts circulating online that target candidates in German state elections. These misleading messages are part of an influence operation known as Matryoshka, also called Operation Overload. The disinformation is being used to spread false stories about individuals running for office in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, and Berlin. The posts are designed to create confusion and cast doubt on Germany’s political process.
Who is being targeted
Eric Stehr, a 29-year-old student and candidate for the Left party in Saxony-Anhalt, has been a key target of the disinformation campaign. False videos circulating online claim he murdered his grandmother to inherit her apartment, killed a webcam model out of jealousy, and organized underground LGBTQ+ sex parties at a German university. A Bauhaus University Weimar spokesperson confirmed to DW that no such events or issues have occurred. In response to these claims, a police spokesperson also told DW that Stehr is not under investigation and has no criminal history.
The disinformation is presented in a way that appears to come from well-known German media outlets like the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Stern TV, ARD, and Spiegel TV. However, these outlets are not connected to the fake videos. The content is part of an organized campaign meant to look credible but is entirely fabricated.
The Matryoshka operation and its patterns
Matryoshka, active since at least September 2023, has targeted multiple elections and events beyond Germany. Deutsche Welle Fact Check traced the current wave of disinformation to an archive maintained by an anonymous investigative group called Antibot4Navalny. This group initially formed to expose disinformation about Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition figure, and now monitors Russian influence online.
According to the data, the disinformation operation is active only on weekdays, with no activity on weekends. The focus is on candidates in the four German states holding elections on September 6. These votes are seen as a key test of political sentiment in the country and an indicator for the national government's direction. The narratives being spread are clearly pro-Russian, anti-German, and anti-EU.
Julia Smirnova, a researcher at CeMAS in Berlin, said the campaign has evolved to target specific individuals running in local elections. This is a significant change compared to past operations, which usually focused on national events or symbolic targets. Smirnova noted that the Matryoshka campaign reflects a broader Russian strategy of supporting parties it views as favorable and spreading negative stories about others. She emphasized that candidates from most parties have been targeted, with the exception of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).
Who is behind the campaign
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in London has linked the Matryoshka operation to Russian speakers and a group known as Storm-1679. One example of this connection is a Spanish-language post that mistakenly refers to a Free Democratic Party (FDP) candidate as part of a party called 'SvDP,' which is the Russian acronym for 'Svobodnaya Demokraticheskaya Partiya.' This error suggests the post was created by someone with limited knowledge of German or FDP details.
Although there is no direct proof of Russian state involvement, experts believe the language, tactics, and targets strongly suggest that the campaign is aligned with Russia. Pablo Maristany de las Casas, who studies foreign information manipulation at ISD, noted that the messages and strategies used in Matryoshka closely mirror earlier Russian disinformation efforts. The operation continues to spread anti-German and anti-EU content, aiming to destabilize political processes in Germany and Europe.