Germany has uncovered a major “pro-Russian disinformation campaign” using thousands of fake accounts on X to try and stir anger at Berlin’s support for Ukraine, a media report said on Friday (26 January).

The revelations come amid growing concern about the impact increasingly sophisticated disinformation campaigns could have on elections.

Experts commissioned by the German foreign ministry used specialised software to monitor posts on the online platform X, formerly known as Twitter, between 20 December and 20 January, news weekly Der Spiegel wrote.

They reportedly stumbled across more than 50,000 fake user accounts that together pumped out more than a million German-language tweets.

A common theme was the accusation that Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government was neglecting the country’s own population in favour of helping Ukraine in its war against Russia, according to Spiegel, which said it has seen excerpts of the analysis.

The accounts also often linked to fake news stories on websites designed to resemble those of genuine media outlets, Spiegel said, leading analysts to connect it to the Russia-linked “Doppelganger” campaign already known to authorities.

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