Publications

ANALYSIS: Yandex and Mail.Ru Group blocking in Ukraine in the context of information warfare

So far, the most popular social network in Ukraine has been VKontakte, followed by Facebook, which shared its position with Odnoklassniki in certain ranking lists. Imposing sectoral sanctions on Russian entities was not motivated by social pressure. Although the political aspect is important, the major reason was economy and security, and the decision was supposed to impact the aggressor state financially and prevent its enterprises to make money on the Ukrainian market. However, there is a range of serious threats for the Ukrainian state resulting from this decision.

FORECAST: primary goals of Russian propaganda in Poland for 2017

The activity of Kremlin propaganda centres and the associated state structures clearly indicates that the coming months will see an escalation of actions hostile to Poland in the information space of Poland and its neighbours and allies from NATO. The context of the current geopolitical considerations suggests that apart from strictly disinformation actions: a) components making them appear real (organisation of real events / actions) and b) operational activity of Russian services (political, organisational and financial support for certain structures, entities and individuals as well as intensified recruitment of collaborators and expansion of pro-Russian networks in Poland, which are aimed at reinforcing the influence on the Polish political class and the Polish society) will be strengthened in coordination with them.

Analysis of the Russian “Strategy for the Development of an Information Society”

On 9 May 2017, Vladimir Putin signed an Executive Order on the “2017-2030 Strategy for the Development of an Information Society in the Russian Federation.” The Strategy’s principal goal mentioned in the document is “to create conditions for the formation of a knowledge society in the Russian Federation.” It can be inferred that Russia is preparing for a total information warfare with the world, which is supposed to take many years, and the defensive aspect of this warfare will be its crucial role.