Description: Germany’s Interior Ministry has stated that a Russian – backed disinformation campaign was taking shape ahead of the crucial elections scheduled for Jan 2027. According to the Ministry, Russia has launched a media disinformation campaign using renowned logos of media outlets such as the BBC, Der Spiegel, ARD and others to prop up the far – right AfD (Alliance for Deutschland) in the polls. The party by itself currently enjoys positive standings in the polls and is expected to make significant gains in the upcoming elections. AfD is considered sympathetic to Russia, wants to restore Germany’s energy ties with Moscow in order to revive the economy and reinstate diplomatic communication. In a separate incident in Leipzig, German counterterrorism police discovered an armed drone in the city’s airport. The drone, which was disarmed by German counterterrorism police, was found in proximity of a Ukrainian Antonov cargo aircraft. Additionally, the Leipzig airport is the base of operations for NATO’s Strategic Airlift International Solution (SALIS) which allows allied states access to military cargo planes. The initial findings of the German police pointed to state – sponsored terrorist attack which the German Interior Ministry said it was still investigating, however, all the circumstances pointed towards Russia.
Impact: Russia is highly likely to increase hybrid attacks on European countries, having lost key political allies in countries such as Hungary, Moldova and Armenia recently. Germany is highly likely the obvious target as Europe’s economic baseline and due to being one of the most influential backers of Ukraine. Russia’s reentry into German domestic policies through the AfD would likely shatter Germany’s domestic support for Ukraine, especially after the crisis that Chancellor Merz and his CDU party are experiencing on issues such as the country’s struggling economy, migration and energy dependence. Germany’s fractured political sphere likely represents a target rich environment for Russian foreign intelligence in terms of targeting elections with misinformation, disinformation campaigns and even destabilizing the domestic security situation with incidents such as the armed drone in Leipzig.