Illegal Russian Influence Operation Continues to Go Unimpeded on X: Matryoshka Targeting the Swedish Elections
By Saman Nazari
Researchers documented seven fabricated news videos targeting Sweden’s 2026 election and a coordinated X amplification network. Individual posts showed 133,000–211,000 views, much of it likely inauthentic, and X removed the reported material only after a delay of nearly a week.
Executive summary
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Alliance4Europe and the Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy documented renewed activity by the Russian Matryoshka influence operation ahead of Sweden’s 2026 election. Six fabricated videos appeared on 18 August and another on 20 August, impersonating Swedish and international media while attacking the governing coalition, Ukraine, refugees and Germany.
The operation paired seed accounts with coordinated amplifiers that liked and reposted the content before becoming dormant. Meltwater metrics showed 133,000 to 211,000 views and 263 to 397 reposts per post, although researchers assessed much of the apparent reach as inauthentic and found limited evidence of organic influence.
The authors reported the content to X under the Digital Services Act on 22 August. X initially declined the reports, then removed the material by 24 August, nearly a week after publication. The report argues that the persistence of a recognisable operation since 2024 reflects a systemic enforcement gap rather than an inability to detect it.
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