With Starmer already gone, Merz could be next to go — Russian presidential envoy

TASS · 🇷🇺 public Russia · Aug 07, 2026 · 211 words

German Political Instability Russian Foreign Influence

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What to know about German Political Instability

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, commented on a poll indicating low satisfaction with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and rising support for the AfD party. The article cites polling data from Infratest dimap regarding the approval ratings of various German political parties.

Propaganda risk 50%

Claims checked 8

Techniques found 3

Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Right coverage

Left33%

Center67%

Right0%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Russian president’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev has warned that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz could ne heading the way of former UK Prime…

Why it matters

"Only 13% of Germans are satisfied with warmongering Merz - a historic low.

Common ground

As AfD offers solutions on energy and migration and surges to record highs, pressure for change is mounting.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Name Calling / Labeling, Causal Oversimplification: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this German Political Instability story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that According to an opinion poll conducted by the Infratest dimap pollster for the ARD television channel and the Die Welt newspaper, as many as 85% of Germans are "not fully satisfied" or "absolutely dissatisfied" with the government’s activity?
How does this story connect German Political Instability with Russian Foreign Influence over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://tass.com/politics/2170231

analyticsAnalysis

50%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Moderate concerns. Notable use of persuasive or loaded language.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 3 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 90% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Name Calling / Labeling 100% confidence

Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.

Why it matters: Recognizing name calling / labeling helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Causal Oversimplification 80% confidence

Assuming a single cause for a complex issue.

Why it matters: Recognizing causal oversimplification helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 4

verified Verified By Reference 1

report Misleading 1

cancel Disputed 1

verified Verified 1

verified

Claim 1: “According to an opinion poll conducted by the Infratest dimap pollster for the ARD television channel and the Die Welt newspaper, as many as 85% of Germans are "not fully satisfied" or "absolutely dissatisfied" with the government’s activity”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While web search results confirm that Infratest dimap conducts polls for ARD and Die Welt, none of the provided evidence snippets contain the specific statistic that 85% of Germans are 'not fully satisfied' or 'absolutely dissatisfied' with the government's activity.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2024 Thuringian state election was held on 1 September 2024 to elect the members of the 8th Landtag of Thuringia. It was held on the same day as the 2024 Saxony state election. The outgoing govern…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Thuringian_state_election

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A federal election was held in Germany on 23 February 2025 to elect the 630 members of the 21st Bundestag, down from 736 in 2021 due to reforms in seat distribution. The 2025 election took place seven…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_German_federal_election

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Alliance 90/The Greens (German: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen [ˈbʏntnɪs ˈnɔʏntsɪç diː ˈɡʁyːnən] ), often simply referred to as Greens (German: Grüne [ˈɡʁyːnə] ), is a green political party in Germany. It was …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_90/The_Greens

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 2: “The poll was conducted from August 3 through 5 involving 1,297 respondents”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence mentions an Infratest dimap poll conducted between August 4 and 6 with 1,321 respondents, which contradicts the claim's dates (August 3-5) and respondent count (1,297). No evidence supports the specific numbers in the claim.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Conducted by the Infratest Dimap Institute for public broadcaster ARD between August 4 and 6, the poll asked 1,321 respondents whether "the German government should put more pressure on the Israeli go…
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/majority-of-ger…

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web search NEUTRAL — Based on the Infratest dimap projection, the incumbent governing parties would currently secure 33.7% of the parliamentary seats. Who is leading in the latest poll from Infratest dimap? According to t…
https://politpro.eu/en/saxony-anhalt/opinion-polls/infratest…

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web search NEUTRAL — Übersicht über aktuelle und frühere Ergebnisse von Wahlumfragen von Infratest dimap zur Bundestagswahl (Sonntagsfrage).
https://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/dimap.htm

report

Claim 3: “Only 13% of Germans are satisfied with warmongering Merz”

MISLEADING

The evidence from Deutsche Welle indicates that 13% of Germans are satisfied with the 'federal government', not specifically with 'warmongering Merz'. Furthermore, the evidence lists Merz's approval rating separately at 16%. The claim conflates government satisfaction with personal satisfaction of Merz and adds a biased descriptor ('warmongering').

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Charlotte Merz (née Gass, born 11 December 1960) is a German judge and the director of the Amtsgericht (district court) in Arnsberg. She is also the wife of Friedrich Merz, the Chancellor of Germany, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Merz

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (born 11 November 1955) is a German politician who has served as Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025. He has also served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Un…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Merz

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Merz cabinet (German: Kabinett Merz [kabiˈnɛt ˈmɛʁts]) is the 25th and current Government of the Federal Republic of Germany during the 21st legislative session of the Bundestag. It succeeded the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merz_cabinet

+ 2 more evidence sources

info

Claim 4: “The Social Democratic Party, The Greens, and the Left Part saw their support stay unchanged from last month at 12%, 15%, and 11%, respectively”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence contains fragmented polling data for various parties (e.g., Left party at 11% in one source, SPD at 23.8% in a Finnish poll), but there is no single source corroborating the specific set of figures (SPD 12%, Greens 15%, Left 11%) as remaining unchanged from the previous month.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The opposition Social Democratic Party remains Finland’s most popular party with 23.8 per cent support. Its rating was unchanged from July, leaving it 7.3 percentage points ahead of National Coalition…
https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finland-news/politics/2…

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web search NEUTRAL — The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) is Germany's oldest political party and one of its two main parties. It originated in 1875 from the merger of two workers’ parties and acquired its current…
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Social-Democratic-Party-of-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — On the extreme left of the spectrum, the Left party has gained a point in the polls since last week, bringing its support to 11 per cent while the Green party, down a point, are polling at nine per ce…
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2017/01/23/merkels-party-sl…

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Claim 5: “support for AfD grew 1 p.p. on July, reaching 28%, a historic high in ARD polls”

DISPUTED

The claim attributes the 28% figure to ARD polls. However, the web search evidence explicitly attributes the 28% figure to an 'INSA institute for Bild am Sonntag' poll, not ARD. This represents a contradiction in the source of the data.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The AfD Thuringia is the Thuringian state chapter of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD). The state chapter is led by Björn Höcke and Stefan Möller as state chairmen and has been classif…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AfD_Thuringia

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An auxiliary floating drydock is a type of US Navy auxiliary floating dry dock. Floating dry docks are able to submerge underwater and to be placed under a ship in need of repair below the water line.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auxiliary_floating_drydock

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A large part of the far-right and right-wing populist German political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) supports Russia, its foreign policy, and its allies. The AfD has been positioning itself for …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AfD_pro-Russia_movement

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 6: “The CDU/CSU bloc lost 1 p.p. to drop from 21% to its lowest since November 2021”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence confirms Friedrich Merz's role as Chancellor and the nature of the CDU/CSU, but does not provide the specific polling numbers (drop to 20%) or the date of the lowest point (November 2021) mentioned in the claim.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Both the CDU and CSU are members of the European People's Party and the International Democracy Union. Both parties sit in the European People's Party Group in the European Parliament.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDU/CSU

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Christian Democratic Union of Germany or Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands (CDU) is one of the two main right of centre political parties in Germany. It describes itself as a Christian d…
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Democratic_Union…

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web search NEUTRAL — Friedrich Merz has been federal chairman of the CDU since 31 January 2022, [8] and has served as the Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Democratic_Union_of_…

info

Claim 7: “the number of those "very satisfied" or "satisfied" is still 13%”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of generic Wikipedia entries about the number 13 and Infratest dimap, but no actual poll result confirming the 13% satisfaction rate for the government. However, the Deutsche Welle evidence in claim 1 mentions 13% satisfaction with the federal government, but this is a different source than the Infratest dimap poll mentioned in the claim.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In the run-up to the next German federal election following the 23 February 2025 election, which needs to take place on or before 25 March 2029, various organisations have carried out opinion polling …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_G…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Infratest dimap is a German institute and company from Berlin that offers psephological and political research. It is well known in Germany for publishing the ARD-Deutschlandtrend poll. The poll is re…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infratest_dimap

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Historical rankings of chancellors of Germany are surveys conducted to construct rankings of the success and popularity of the individuals who have served as Chancellor of Germany in the Federal Repub…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_chancel…

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 8: “Russian president’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev”

VERIFIED

The claim is confirmed by multiple TASS cross-references and Wikipedia, which explicitly identifies Kirill Dmitriev as the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kirill Alexandrovich Dmitriev (born 12 April 1975) is a Russian businessman who is the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), an at least $10 billion sovereign wealth fund created by the Ru…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirill_Dmitriev

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kirill Nikolayevich Shamalov (Russian: Кирилл Николаевич Шамалов; born 22 March 1982) is a Russian businessman, the ex-husband of Katerina Tikhonova and the ex-son-in-law of the Russian president Vlad…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirill_Shamalov

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Russian Direct Investment Fund (Russian: Российский фонд прямых инвестиций, RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 by the Russian government with the stated goal to make inves…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Direct_Investment_Fund

+ 5 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.