Russian influence networks (Matryoshka / Storm-1679, Social Design Agency)
Assessment
ISD counted 269 Matryoshka posts on X between Jun 24 and Sept 1 targeting Germany's federal government and CDU, SPD, Green, Linke and FDP candidates ahead of the Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony and Berlin votes, using AI-generated video and stolen media branding. The network posted seven fabricated videos within one hour on Aug 18 alleging electoral fraud in Sweden and attacking Prime Minister Kristersson before the Sept 13 vote, tagging SVT and Dagens Nyheter accounts; no new campaign was documented through Sept 15.
Recent, assessed
- 2026-09-09Euronews reports Sweden's pre-election influence-detection effort and the Psychological Defence Agency's findings on a partly AI-powered network of about 1,200 fake X accounts behind more than 50,000 posts in 2025-2026. euronews.com
Level history
Levels set by research reviews. A level set by hand is shown at the top of the page while it is in force and is not part of this history.
| Date | Level | Review |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-15 | 3 | Weekly review |
| 2026-09-14 | 3 | Weekly review |
| 2026-09-12 | 3 | Weekly review |
| 2026-09-12 | 3 | Baseline |
Latest headlines 1
Matched to this entry by keyword from the pull of 19 Sep, 11:09 UTC. Not reviewed; some may be off-topic.