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The aim of the Russia campaign is to increase German resentment against the current coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and to undermine their support for Ukraine, which has been resisting Russian invasion for almost two years.
The analysis was prepared by experts on behalf of the Federal Foreign Office’s Strategic Communications Department. From December 20th to January 20th, they explored the social network X using special software.
They found more than 50,000 fake user accounts, of which over a million posts were sent in German. They often included the accusation that the federal government was neglecting its own population in order to support Ukraine.
BBC: Russia uses TikTok to spread disinformation about Ukraine
“I am disappointed that the government is doing more for other countries than for its own citizens,” one post said. “It’s a shame that the traffic light coalition doesn’t take the problems in their own country seriously,” said another.
Sometimes these fake accounts generated up to 200,000 posts per day, which equates to about two tweets per second.
Photo: Der Spiegel/X Network
Screenshot of a disinformation tweet from the X Network
State Department experts consider the current information warfare offensive to be part of a major Russian campaign that came to light in 2022 under the name Double.
Even back then, Germany, but also Italy, Great Britain, France and Ukraine became the target of internet attackers.
The company Meta, owner of the social network Facebook, spoke of the “largest and most intensive” Russian operation in the online sector and therefore blocked many accounts, Der Spiegel recalls.
According to the weekly newspaper, the experts’ findings caused an uproar in the Foreign Office, as Germany and the three former federal states of the German Democratic Republic await elections to the European Parliament this spring, and state elections are also taking place. There are therefore fears that Russia could interfere in election campaigns.
To make the campaign appear credible, the attackers misuse the names of well-known media companies and impersonate their websites in order to place them in their fake posts. That’s why the campaign is called Double.
In addition to posts with socially divisive content, the fake accounts also contain links to well-known media such as Spiegel, Welt or Süddeutsche Zeitung.
They lead users to the portals of these media, which at first glance look like the originals, but in reality are their imitations controlled by attackers.
In an official statement today, Russia accused the French Ministry of Defense of a disinformation campaign that Moscow was carrying out coordinated operations against France with the aim of spreading false information, for example, about the alleged activity of French mercenaries in Ukraine.
According to the French Defense Ministry, Russia uses state media such as Sputnik News, the RT television channel and the RIA Novosti agency to do this.
The BIS intercepted paid propaganda from Russia, and famous personalities were also involved
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