From December 17, 2024 to January 14, 2025, Russia conducted an ongoing disinformation campaign in Germany targeting political parties ahead of the Bundestag election via fake 'doppelganger' accounts on platform X.

Between December 17, 2024 and January 14, 2025, Russian-controlled accounts launched a coordinated and sustained disinformation campaign targeting Germany's political parties on social media platform X. The so-called 'doppelganger' campaign created fake user profiles impersonating private users that promoted Kremlin-friendly narratives, including opposition to Ukraine aid and criticism of mainstream parties like the Greens, SPD, and CDU. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) was rarely targeted and was portrayed positively. CeMAS documented 630 German-language posts reaching over 2.8 million views during that period, with suspiciously low likes but high shares, indicating coordination. The campaign employed fabricated news articles hosted on fake sites designed to resemble credible German media. The German Federal Ministry of the Interior and domestic intelligence have warned about such foreign influence operations. Social media platforms have taken measures to delete fake accounts, but often with delays allowing extensive dissemination. This ongoing disinformation effort seeks to sow doubt and anxiety about economic issues, energy supply, and border security in Germany, thereby influencing the political discourse before the 2025 Bundestag election.