Russian propaganda: Kremlin deliberately controls disinformation in Germany

Russian disinformation campaigns in Germany are controlled directly from the Kremlin. This is proven by internal documents from the Moscow company “Social Design Agency” (SDAI), which are available to NDR, WDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. One of the goals is to strengthen the AfD in polls.

Russia is acting “pragmatically and thematically flexibly in order to make the best possible use of divisive potential and inner-societal discourse in Germany,” NDR, WDR and “SZ” quoted the head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, as saying. His agency is “working intensively to identify the destructive actors and prevent them from destabilizing our democracy,” said Haldenwang.

Close coordination with Kremlin administration

According to the research results, the SDA spreads stories around the clock on social networks that are intended to benefit the Russian government. This is apparently done in close coordination with Vladimir Putin’s presidential administration, it was said. The media involved refer to the analysis of internal presentations, tables, lists, graphics and protocols from SDA, which were passed on to them by an anonymous source.

According to the source, the Moscow company was hacked. “The Kremlin wants to harm Germany and this evil must be stopped,” the source said in writing about their motivation.

According to research, the Kremlin sees Germany as a preferred target for the spread of disinformation. False information in Germany is intended to “increase fear of the future” and strengthen right-wing parties. The AfD, according to a Russian document cited, is said to have achieved an approval rating of 20 percent – according to a polling institute whose results are published throughout Europe and which is considered trustworthy.

One of the main narratives of the Russian campaigns is the claim that German support for Ukraine is to blame for the “deepest economic and social crisis in recent history”. The idea is to create the impression that Germany is on the brink of economic collapse.

Pro-Russian comments on Facebook, X and Instagram

In addition to pro-Russian comments on Facebook, X, Telegram or Instagram, SDA mainly spreads so-called memes (images or texts of a humorous or sarcastic nature) and caricatures. Since the Russian annexation of the Ukrainian Crimea in 2014, targeted interventions have been attempted to separate the Federal Republic from the Western alliance and strengthen Moscow’s advocates in this country.

The SDA company has long been considered a central instrument of Russian propaganda and hybrid warfare. It is also said to be the originator of the so-called doppelgänger campaign, in which the news pages of major media companies were recreated in a deceptively realistic manner and filled with fake news. The EU imposed sanctions on SDA in July 2023.

In Germany, the AfD and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) are considered to be the main parties that adopt and represent Russian narratives, but also other political and social actors.

A few days ago, the American FBI had already accused Russia in a report of deliberately spreading government propaganda in Germany using disinformation. The US agency also named the campaign goals as helping the AfD, undermining support for Ukraine and denigrating the USA and NATO.

Make AfD into martyrs “by all means”

The FBI also refers to documents from the Russian “Social Design Agency”. They state that the aim is to “exacerbate internal tensions in the countries allied with the United States” in order to promote Russia’s interests on the international stage. The AfD is being supported “by all means” by creating the “image of martyrs” who “suffer for democracy and Germany’s national interests”. This was to be achieved, for example, by distributing fake videos or websites.

For example, the notes cited in the FBI report state that websites would be set up that would use real facts to supplement them with false information. One suggestion was to spread “a fake story about an American soldier raping a German woman.”