Propaganda and disinformation of Russian origin have been directed at voters, with the aim of "destroying confidence in democracy" and attempting to help the German extreme right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AFD) to succeed in the election on Sunday. The information comes from sources within the German security service, which points out the network Storm-1516, with links to the Kremlin, as one of those behind the campaigns.
The goal is to influence /... /the democratic process, said the Interior Ministry's spokesperson Maximilian Kall at a press conference on Friday.
Kall emphasized at the same time that "the free and independent electoral process is guaranteed" in the German social system.
A campaign is said to have been focused on claiming that AFD has been disadvantaged. AFD has shown a Moscow-friendly orientation during the election campaign. Furthermore, a campaign has been directed at voters in Hamburg, where it is claimed that AFD's ballots have been shredded in a document shredder. The authorities were quickly able to clarify that the video recording was false, said Kall.
