Internal documents from the pro-Kremlin agency SDA, which WDR, NDR and SZ were able to analyse, show how the mood in Germany is to be influenced. One aim is to make Germans as afraid of the future as possible.
In the video, Ilya Gambashidze wears flecktarn camouflage over his shirt and tie. The head of the ‘Social Design Agency’ (SDA) appears in the video in a kind of fantasy uniform, with a patch on his arm: ‘Russian Ideological Forces’ – written in Russian. Western security authorities consider the video to be authentic on request. And they take what is said in it seriously.
Gambashidze is currently regarded as one of Moscow’s most active infowarriors; according to intelligence services, his agency SDA is said to be working on behalf of the Russian presidential administration – directly for Russia’s ruler Vladimir Putin and his war.
Gambashidze is not waging this war on the battlefield in Ukraine, but is fighting for minds. He is seen as a kind of successor to Putin’s former close confidant Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in 2023, and his ‘troll factories’. These were responsible for numerous disinformation campaigns against the West until Prigozhin died in a mysterious plane crash around a year ago. Prigozhin had long denied having anything to do with the flood of lies and ‘fake news’ on the internet.
An internal SDA company video now openly explains what Gambashidze’s agency is up to: there is no point in hiding. It is about ‘collecting and analysing information from the Western media sector, developing our own narratives and packaging them into content’.
Fakes and lies
A leak from SDA, which WDR, NDR, SZ and the Estonian medium Delfi were able to analyse with international media partners, provides deep insights into the disinformation work of the pro-Kremlin agency and clearly shows how the company attempts to influence opinions and political processes worldwide, to create a targeted mood for Russia’s narrative in the West – and to intensify existing social conflicts. Their means: fakes and lies. Gambashidze did not respond to questions from WDR, NDR, SZ and the international partners. A Putin spokesperson also left a catalogue of questions unanswered.
The documents date back to mid-2024 and include lists containing around one hundred names and areas of responsibility of permanent and freelance employees. According to the list, they are said to be working on several disinformation campaigns in different countries at the same time. The name of a woman who is said to work in the Russian presidential administration also appears repeatedly. Minutes show that she regularly took part in meetings with the SDA.
The outputs of the information warriors: hundreds of caricatures and internet memes that specifically convey fake news and pro-Russian narratives. These are then spread by bots and fake accounts on social media.
The research team reviewed more than 250 such posts and found cartoons and images as well as realisations of the narratives from the SDA documents online. A particularly large number can be found in a Telegram channel called ‘VoxCartoons’. For example, users see the USA holding an IS cardboard figure, with Ukraine standing behind the cardboard figure. This is probably intended to suggest that the USA and Ukraine are behind attacks by Islamist terrorists.
In another picture, Europe is in the stranglehold of the USA, while Ukraine is holding out its hand. In yet another cartoon, a train derails with a locomotive painted black, red and gold and decorated with a European flag, apparently to fuel fears of a recession.
US government exposes double-dealing campaign
At the beginning of September, the US government officially accused the SDA, among others, of trying to influence the US presidential elections in November. The US Department of Justice seized dozens of internet websites that could be attributed to a current Russian disinformation campaign called ‘Doppelganger’.
According to these findings, Gambashidze’s SDA is said to be responsible for the ‘Doppelgänger’ campaign, in which reputable news sites, such as those of Süddeutsche Zeitung and Spiegel, were copied exactly in order to spread Russia-friendly narratives and tall tales on the doppelgänger sites, which are said to have originated from the SDA.
The leak now contains numerous pieces of evidence that the SDA actually launched the ‘doppelganger’ campaign. This is evident from hundreds of screenshots of published comments, articles on fake websites and posts on social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Telegram. Fake pages can still be found in German media to this day.
As corporate objectives
SDA pursues very specific goals in its approach, which it records in so-called KPIs (abbreviation for Key Performance Indicator). In the business world, KPIs are key figures that are regarded as initial success targets. The SDA has set itself KPIs for the countries it is targeting with its info war. These include Germany, France, Israel and Ukraine.
For Germany, the SDA formulated the following goal in a presentation: ‘Increase the AfD’s share of the vote to 20 per cent’ – the goal was to be measured by the party’s performance in nationwide election polls. At the time, the party still had significantly fewer percentages, but was already on an upward trend and passed the 20 per cent mark for the first time in July 2023.
Another declared goal of the SDA: to achieve an increase in the ‘fear of the future’ indicator. The indicator should be above 50 per cent in surveys if possible. In addition, more than 55 per cent of Germans should not be prepared to sacrifice their assets to defeat Russia. And another goal was also to be achieved: ‘Polarisation of German society – reluctance to vote for the Greens at over 40 percent’ – again measured by polls.
In addition, the SDA specified ‘thematic lines’, which were then to be disseminated in internet posts on various social media: Germany is defenceless. The USA would use anti-Russian measures to deliberately drive Germany into bankruptcy. And Germany was allegedly in the deepest economic and social crisis in recent history.
Current Mood in Focus
The Gambashidzes agency is apparently keeping a very close eye on the mood in Germany for its campaigns. According to the leaked screenshots, SDA in Germany closely monitors public statements made by politicians and other opinion leaders. The agency claims to maintain a database of more than 1,000 people. This includes representatives of various parties.
The public statements of leading politicians and several television presenters are also read, collected and analysed in Moscow. For Julia Smirnova from the non-governmental organisation CEMAS, ‘monitoring’ is the first step. It involves analysing media, social media and survey results in target countries. ‘The second step is called analysis. This involves identifying narratives and topics that can be used in the manipulation campaign.’
There are also indications that the SDA is also looking very closely at individual demonstrations in Germany. More than 35 protest events in Germany from September and October 2022 are noted on internal lists – from Berlin to Munich, Stuttgart and Leipzig to Rostock and Neustrelitz. There are precise details about the organisers and slogans of the protests, which are primarily directed against the Ampel government, Russia sanctions, energy prices and Ukraine aid or articulate fears of poverty.
For Julia Smirnova, this shows that Russia is keeping a very close eye on where regional protests are taking place. ‘The SDA is observing very closely what the sore points are in Germany and how material from these protests could possibly be used in propaganda campaigns.’
In another document, the SDA drafts 24 graffiti design templates, which, according to the title, should be sprayed on buildings in Germany for everyone to see. The motifs are directed against the Greens, against the USA and against high energy prices. The leak does not reveal whether and where these were realised and, if so, by whom.
Support for right-wing parties
In addition to the ‘doppelganger’ campaign, the SDA boasts of another action that it apparently implemented in the run-up to the EU elections in June 2024 – according to documents, with the aim of supporting right-wing parties. According to an internal SDA report, the activities were aimed at damaging existing EU policy, its key players and, in particular, the reputation of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Right-wing parties were to be portrayed as ‘peace parties’, protectors of national interests and parties of ‘common sense’.
The narrative text of the internal SDA video with Ilya Gambashidze clearly summarises the agency’s thrust: ‘Our content fits into the world view of Western citizens. By carefully preparing our information attacks and understanding the goals and tasks of the project, we firmly believe in the final victory. The battlefield is the minds of the inhabitants of planet Earth. On this battlefield, we will prevail.’
It is difficult to say how successful the individual campaigns actually were. Social media regularly delete disinformation posts. In addition, French and German authorities publicly warned against the campaign with the fake news sites at an early stage. Nevertheless, WDR, NDR and SZ were able to track down some posts from the agency’s internal plans online. However, these were not widely distributed. In any case, a look at the leak shows how hard Russia is trying to destabilise Western democracies.
