Secret messages from the Russian presidential administration and a connected PR agency show how the Kremlin is waging an information war in Europe. The latest leaks are supposed to reveal extensive plans for 2026. Central Europe is also their direct target – the Russian intelligence structures are planning to purposefully dismantle the Vyšehrad Four (V4) and create a new block, which would also include Slovakia.
Leaked documents and internal communications obtained by investigative journalists from the Delfi Estonia portal and the international OCCRP network reveal the veil of so-called Russian “cognitive attacks”. Behind them stands the Social Design Agency (SDA) – a Russian PR firm that reports directly to the Russian presidential administration. While so far their operations have focused on France or Germany, the leaked files called “Projects 2026” also reveal plans aimed directly at our region.
The documents detail a plan called “Mitteleuropa” (Central Europe). His the goal is to establish close political and economic relations between “states and territories that were part of Austria-Hungary in the past”. According to the file, the Kremlin’s long-term intention is to create a “single, strong and independent player” from this grouping.
What does this mean in practice? According to the text of the leaked document, the main purpose of the project is to “dismantle the Vyšehrad Group (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia)” and replace it with the so-called “Vienna Agreement”. which would unite only Austria, Hungary and Slovakia. The plan also confirms Russian efforts to influence the recent elections in Hungary and Slovenia. Displacing Poland and the Czech Republic – countries that strongly support Ukraine – from Central European cooperation would significantly weaken EU unity.
Foreign analysts warn that Russian tactics are becoming more aggressive. The SDA documents confirm that the agency conducts “false flag” operations to incite chaos and religious intolerance. An example is the atrocity of September 2025, when nine bloodied, severed pig heads with the words “Macron” were thrown in front of nine mosques around Paris. Three Serbs were later convicted of this act, who, according to the verdict, were directed by the Russian secret services. Leaked Russian reports suggest that the campaign targeted the French president.
“The purpose of the action was to discredit the French authorities… It was a blow to Macron’s image,” boasted one of the Russian operatives in an internal chat under the pseudonym Edward Bernays. The agency was also behind the damage to the Paris Holocaust Museum and synagogues with the aim of provoking conflicts between the Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe.
James Pamment, director of the Institute for Psychological Defense Research at Sweden’s Lund University says the leaked documents show a “pattern of reckless escalation”. “They try to create conflict between groups in society,” Pamment said. “We know very well how easy it is at the moment to whip up existing tensions in Europe, especially when it comes to migration or religious issues. It’s dangerous.” he added.
According to him, the fact that the high-ranking official of the Russian presidential administration Sofia Zakharova, who approved budgets, appeared in internal chats under a pseudonym shows that these operations are managed by the highest places in Moscow. In addition to physical provocations, the SDA is also supposed to invest in fake news networks. In the documents, they brag, for example, about the invented and shared million times rumor that Ukrainian President Zelensky bought his mother a luxury apartment in Dubai.
The goal of such information wars is clearly defined in one of the leaked Russian documents: “The more Russia participates in active influence campaigns around the world, the stronger the image of global Russian power.”
