Sweden's Psychological Defence Agency head warns of Russian disinformation targeting European elections
Magnus Hjort, director of Sweden's Psychological Defence Agency, told Politico that Russian bot networks and disinformation campaigns threaten upcoming elections in major European countries, particularly regional elections in German federal states and the French presidential election. He said Moscow's main goal is to erode European voter support for continued aid to Ukraine.
Key points
- Magnus Hjort, director of Sweden's Psychological Defence Agency, gave the warning in a Politico interview.
- Hjort said Russia's main goal is to make European voters doubt whether politicians should keep supporting Ukraine.
- Russia is focusing influence efforts on regional elections in German federal states and the French presidential election scheduled for April 2027.
- Russian-linked campaigns spread fake stories about corruption and other abuses in Ukraine to polarize European societies, according to Hjort.
- A state-affiliated actor ran a network of 1,200 X accounts targeting Sweden and other countries, posting about 50,000 divisive messages across 2025 and 2026.
- The agency documented a Russian "matryoshka" disinformation method that sends fact-checkers and journalists links to alleged Russian content to waste their time debunking it.
- On 6 September, the far-right pro-Russian AfD won more than 43% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt's state parliament election.
Why it matters
A senior European security official has publicly named Russia as the driver of disinformation aimed at upcoming elections in Germany and France, and has identified fake stories about Ukrainian corruption as one of the central tools. With the far-right pro-Russian AfD having just won more than 43% in Saxony-Anhalt and Marine Le Pen leading French presidential polls, the warning connects ongoing Kremlin information operations to a concrete near-term European political calendar in which parties more sympathetic to Moscow are positioned to do well.
What happened
In an interview with Politico, Magnus Hjort, director of Sweden's Psychological Defence Agency, warned that Russian disinformation campaigns and bot networks threaten upcoming elections in major European countries. He identified regional elections in German federal states and the French presidential election, scheduled for April 2027, as the main targets. According to Hjort, Russia's primary aim is to convince European voters that their politicians should stop supporting Ukraine, using fake stories about corruption and other abuses in Ukraine to polarize societies. Hjort's agency documented a "matryoshka" technique in which fact-checkers and journalists are sent messages pointing them to alleged Russian content to distract them. The agency also identified a state-affiliated actor running a network of 1,200 X accounts, which posted about 50,000 divisive messages across 2025 and 2026, initially on neutral topics such as vacations and sports before shifting to divisive political content. Hjort said Sweden's general elections, scheduled for Sunday, 13 September, are not a primary target because Swedish society broadly supports aid to Kyiv, and he cautioned that overstating foreign interference could itself erode democratic trust by making voters view results as rigged.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian-language coverage frames Hjort's warning as a threat to European elections and emphasizes the angle that Russian bots specifically target support for Ukraine, casting Russia as the aggressor against European democracies. The framing links the disinformation threat directly to the political survival of Kyiv's European backers.
How international sources describe it
Politico-origin coverage places the warning in the context of a wider European electoral calendar, naming specific target elections in Germany and France, and includes Hjort's own caveat that exaggerating the scale of foreign interference can itself damage democratic trust. It also situates the Swedish assessment alongside earlier concerns raised by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani about possible Russian interference in Italian parliamentary elections planned for 2027.
Background
On 6 September, the far-right pro-Russian Alternative for Germany (AfD) won more than 43% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt's state parliament election, a result discussed alongside Hjort's warning as an example of the trend his agency is flagging. The French presidential election is scheduled for April 2027, with Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, leading in opinion polls. Sweden's general elections were scheduled for Sunday, 13 September, with the Social Democrats, led by former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, the clear frontrunner in polls. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had earlier expressed concern that Russia could try to interfere in Italian parliamentary elections planned for 2027.