#TimeToDivideGermany:

By Alice Lee, Leonie Pfaller, and Mascha Wolf | Published on Aug. 11, 2026

A Russian influence campaign is capitalizing on upcoming state elections in Germany to advance false claims aimed at redividing the country into its communist-era East and West, in an apparent effort to weaken one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies.  

The operation known as Matryoshka has pushed 20 fabricated videos and news reports in the last two months depicting German news outlets, celebrities, business leaders, and others advocating for the redivision of Germany, NewsGuard and other organizations have found. The campaign even has its own hashtag: #TimeToDivideGermany. 

For example, fake front covers mimicking the German dailies Tagesspiegel and Handelsblatt reported that Christopher Nolan, the director of the summer blockbuster movie The Odyssey, along with several stars from the film, called for Germany to return to its pre-1990 divided state. 

One video in the campaign shows authentic stock footage of U.S. actor James Marsters, best known for his role in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, but the voiceover was created with AI, NewsGuard found. “It is with great pleasure that I join the #TimeToDivideGermany campaign. Eastern and Western Germany have a chance for a future only if they are divided,” the voice states in a monotone typical of AI-generated narration. “If Germany remains intact, Germans will be replaced by migrants.” AI detection tool Hive found with 97 percent certainty that the audio in the latter part of the video was AI-generated.

Other claims associated with the campaign, which was identified by anonymous online research collective Antibot4Navalny and reported by Deutsche Welle, include that:

• Children in East Germany are more likely to fall victim to paedophiles, most of whom are West German — attributed to a fake report bearing the logo of German tabloid Bild.
• Property owners in West Germany prefer to rent their properties to foreigners rather than East Germans — citing a fake report with the logo of German public-service TV station ZDF.
• More than 82 percent of Germans under 30 are in favor of redividing the country— presented in a fake report with the logo of news magazine Der Spiegel.
• Julia Klöckner, president of Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, called Germans from the East “mentally deficient,” presented in a fake report carrying the logo of German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

None of these claims is true.

WAR AND PEACE

The German redivision campaign appears to be the work of the influence operation Matryoshka, the Russian word for a nesting doll. While Matryoshka and other Russian propaganda efforts have long focused on Germany, this appears to be the first time a Russian campaign has pushed for Germany to be returned to its pre-1990 status.

Imitating credible media outlets is a well-worn tactic of Russian influence operations, and the backbone of Matryoshka. As of late July 2026, NewsGuard identified 723 such news reports mimicking 134 news brands. German outlets including Der Spiegel and Deutsche Welle were among the most imitated media brands.

The new effort may signal a shift in Russian foreign policy toward Germany. Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his predecessors took credit for the reunification of Germany as a peaceful solution to the Cold War, favoring a stable Germany as an economic and political partner. But Germany’s strong support for Ukraine in its war with Russia appears to have changed the calculus and prompted Russia to try to sow division in the country.

Indeed, the new Russian campaign can be seen as part of its broader efforts to sow division throughout Europe, particularly as European countries have stepped up to provide the bulk of financial assistance to Ukraine for its defense against the Russian invasion. NewsGuard has previously reported on Russian campaigns targeting France, another key Ukraine ally.

The Russian influence effort, which is a form of election interference, appears pegged to three German state elections, which are scheduled for September 2026 in the eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt, Berlin, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The result will not only determine the composition of these state parliaments for the next five years, they are also widely viewed as an important test of Germany’s overall political direction.  

Since reunification in 1990, the former East German states have consistently shown stronger support for anti-establishment, populist, and radical parties. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which was founded in 2013, has been gaining steady support, as it channels frustration in the East toward the European Union, immigration, and the perceived erosion of German culture and national identity. 

With the German state elections just weeks away, the #TimeToDivideGermany campaign appears to be aimed at reigniting these longstanding East-West tensions in a way that reduces trust in mainstream German politics and boosts AfD, which opposes Russian sanctions and German support of Ukraine. 

Indeed, Antibot4Navalny found that a number of the Matryoshka-produced claims directly target candidates from the mainstream parties. One candidate, for example, was falsely accused of murdering his own grandparents, and another was accused of setting up a “network of animal abusers.”

Edited by Dina Contini and Eric Effron.