Zelenskyy takes on Russia’s information warfare campaign against Ukraine
Zelenskyy takes on Russia’s information warfare campaign against Ukraine

Summary/Abstract: The question of information warfare and disinformation have become hot topics since the 2014 crisis in Ukraine. Nevertheless, one should not assume that this threat was invented by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the Soviet Union had practised dezinformatsiya and mokryie dela (wet affairs – assassinations) for decades. But with the internet, 24-hour television and social media, Putin and other authoritarian leaders have turbo-charged their information warfare. The threat is evident in the new structures which have been created by the European Union, NATO, the United States and other democracies to counter it. As Russia’s “guinea pig” for information warfare, Ukrainian civil society has undertaken major steps to develop counter strategies and rebut (often Ukrainophobic) disinformation. Nevertheless, there continues to be heated debates about how a democracy counters disinformation and fake news and if, for example, it was right for a private company to ban a president from using its social media platform.

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