Fake videos exploit Germany's East-West divide before key elections

A fake newspaper cover claiming the "West hates the East". AI-generated television reports suggesting western German landlords would rather rent to foreigners than eastern Germans, and videos falsely claiming that most young Germans want East Germany restored.

These images and videos mimic the branding of some of Germany's best-known media organisations, such as Spiegel TV, Bild and T-Online, as well as research organisations such as the Institute for the Study of War.

However, they are not genuine.

Researchers from the collective Antibot4Navalny, which tracks online influence operations, have identified at least 49 fake videos, 12 falsified newspaper covers and one image claiming to show fake graffiti during the first week of the campaign, which is being promoted on X, Bluesky and TikTok.

This campaign repeatedly promotes the underlying narrative that Germany is increasingly divided between its East and West.

Multiple posts claim eastern Germans are unfairly treated or politically marginalised, whilst others cite false statistics falsely claiming support for restoring East Germany or suggesting west Germans discriminate against east Germans in housing and other areas.

Antibot4Navalny says the campaign bears hallmarks of belonging to "Matryoshka", a disinformation and influence network European authorities have previously linked to pro-Russian influence activity.

Matryoshka campaigns are known for mimicking and impersonating credible sources such as news outlets, think-tanks and research organisations — spreading false claims that aim to appear credible.

Researchers say this campaign has deliberately focused on eastern Germany and seeks to exploit societal and political tensions ahead of two key state elections in September.

The country is closely watching the elections in eastern states Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, as both are considered an important test for the popularity of current German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's governing coalition between the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).

In both, recent polling indicates that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is ahead. The party itself hopes to win more than 40% of the vote share, a result that would put it within reach of an outright majority and strengthen its chances of leading a state government for the first time.

Why East versus West?

Lea Frühwirth, a senior researcher at the German non-profit extremist monitoring agency, the Centre for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy (CeMAS), says foreign influence campaigns often seek to amplify existing social divisions rather than invent entirely new ones.

"Foreign influence campaigns aim to destabilise targeted societies," she told Euronews' verification team, The Cube. "It is common practice to attempt this by fuelling polarised debate on sensitive topics and hot-button issues."

Although Germany has been reunified for more than three decades, Frühwirth says differences in identity and lingering grievances mean East-West divisions remain politically sensitive.

"Reunification did not take place at eye level, and many people in the East report profound grievances at the hands of West German people," she said. "Structural differences persist to this day."

"There's also the political aspect to it: Russian and pro-Russian communication around German elections favours pro-Russian parties, such as the far-right AfD, and tends to badmouth others," she added.

Frühwirth says campaigns such as this seek to exploit existing grievances by pitting groups against one another and deepening political polarisation.

Whether campaigns like this ultimately influence voting behaviour is difficult to measure, as is their actual reach, with reports suggesting that the campaign inflates viewership numbers on posts to make it seem like they have more engagement than in reality.

It's not the first time German elections have been targeted by influence campaigns linked to Russia. During the 2025 federal elections, authorities and researchers documented several campaigns, including Doppelgänger, Storm-1516 and Matryoshka, that sought to spread false narratives and impersonate trusted news organisations.