The goal is to scare the Germans about the future, the guarantor is the Kremlin, and the executor is the Russian "Agency for Social Design". (SDA). Several German media outlets reveal how Putin's "lie machine" works.
The German media WDR, NDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung“ participate in the exclusive investigation. (ZC). Here's what they reveal.
Their tools are manipulation and lies
The head of the SDA is Ilya Gambashidze, who is known as one of the most active information fighters in Moscow, writes ARD. Gambashidze is considered the successor of Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in 2023, and his troll factory. In a corporate video of the agency, available to the German media, its activity is clearly defined - “collecting and analyzing information from the Western media sector, developing its own narratives and packaging them into content“.
Leaked documents show how the Russian company is trying to influence opinions and political processes around the world and intensify conflicts in the West, notes ARD. Neither Gambashidze nor Vladimir Putin's spokespeople answered the questions of WDR, NDR and ZC.
How do “information warriors“ work?
The documents date from mid-2024. They contain a list of nearly a hundred names and positions of employees. According to the list, they have implemented several disinformation campaigns in different countries. The name of a woman from the Russian presidential administration who meets with SDA officials also appears everywhere. “The fighters from the information front“ use hundreds of cartoons and memes that promote fake news and pro-Russian narratives. They are spread by bots and fake profiles on social networks. One example is a cartoon of the USA with a cardboard figure of the so-called “Islamic State” and Ukraine in the background. It suggests that Washington and Kiev are behind attacks by Islamic terrorists. Other cartoons build the narrative that the US is dictating Europe's behavior and that the EU is threatened with recession.
In early September, the US government formally accused the SDA of trying to interfere in the November US election. Authorities in the US have blocked dozens of websites on suspicion of being part of an ongoing Russian disinformation campaign called “Dvoynik”. Doppelgangers of reputable media have been created to spread disinformation. In the now leaked database, there are many clues that the “Agency for Social Design” is behind the campaign. It works with specific performance indicators, also known as KPI-s /Key Performance Indicators/. They are described separately for different countries, including Germany, France, Israel and Ukraine.
For Germany, for example, the goal is to “increase the votes of “Alternative for Germany” up to 20 percent”. Another goal is “increasing fear of the future”. This indicator should be above 50% in polls. Also, over 55% of Germans should not be willing to sacrifice some of their well-being in order for Russia to be defeated. Another set goal reads: “Polarization of German society – to have over 40% reluctance to vote for the Greens”. Among the documents, “thematic lines” of the publications that are distributed on social networks. Among them, for example: Germany is not sufficiently armed, the US will use anti-Russian measures to bankrupt the Federal Republic, and the Germans are in their worst economic and social crisis in recent history.
Monitoring of public speeches and protests
Gambashidze's agency apparently also monitors the public speeches of German politicians and opinion leaders. According to Yulia Smirnova of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, this gathering of information is the first step. This is followed by analyzing the data, and then “identifying narratives and themes that can be used in manipulation campaigns”.
Lists for the organization's internal use also list specific protests in Germany that have been tracked in detail. “SDA monitors very carefully which are the problem areas in Germany and how materials from these protests can be used in propaganda campaigns,”, explains Smirnova. In another document, 24 motives for graffiti to be painted on public buildings in Germany are presented. These include insinuations against the Greens, the US and high electricity prices.
"Peace Parties"
SDA has also organized another campaign in the run-up to the European elections in June. Within this campaign, the image of the leading political forces, as well as the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was supposed to be damaged. Far-right parties have been described as “parties of peace”, defenders of national interests and parties of common sense.
In one of the agency's videos, which reached the German media, its goals are clearly described: “By carefully preparing our information attacks and understanding the goals and objectives of the project, we firmly believe in the final victory. The battlefield is the heads of the inhabitants of planet Earth. On this battlefield we will win”.