Sweden's Psychological Defence Agency warns that Russia is conducting information warfare using bot networks aimed at influencing upcoming elections in Germany and France. The agency has identified a large bot network called the 'holiday network' with 1,200 accounts on X (formerly Twitter) publishing 50,000 divisive posts in 2025-2026 to polarize societies. Russia's objective is to undermine support for sending money and weapons to Ukraine by spreading disinformation about Ukrainian corruption. Sweden's agency reports no coordinated Russian disinformation campaign targeting the Swedish election, but stresses the need for social media platforms to do more to dismantle bot networks. The agency also mentions Russia's use of the 'Matryoshka' method to waste fact-checkers' time. Russia is prioritized on larger, more influential European elections including German regional votes and the French 2027 presidential election, where far-right parties sympathetic to Moscow may gain. The Swedish agency emphasizes the need to deny Russian disinformation oxygen by avoiding engagement and calls for better cooperation between European states and social media platforms to safeguard democracy.

Sweden's Psychological Defence Agency warns that Russia is conducting information warfare using bot networks aimed at influencing upcoming elections in Germany and France. The agency has identified a large bot network called the 'holiday network' with 1,200 accounts on X (formerly Twitter) publishing 50,000 divisive posts in 2025-2026 to polarize societies. Russia's objective is to undermine support for sending money and weapons to Ukraine by spreading disinformation about Ukrainian corruption. Sweden's agency reports no coordinated Russian disinformation campaign targeting the Swedish election, but stresses the need for social media platforms to do more to dismantle bot networks. The agency also mentions Russia's use of the 'Matryoshka' method to waste fact-checkers' time. Russia is prioritized on larger, more influential European elections including German regional votes and the French 2027 presidential election, where far-right parties sympathetic to Moscow may gain. The Swedish agency emphasizes the need to deny Russian disinformation oxygen by avoiding engagement and calls for better cooperation between European states and social media platforms to safeguard democracy.