YESTERDAY’S/TODAY’S INFORMATION WARFARE OF THE KREMLIN (THE CASE OF DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS IN ONLINE MEDIA)

Abstract

Information has been one of the most effective weapons for centuries because it clearly served its purpose: to influence people's minds and manipulate public opinion. Today, thanks to the latest technologies and social media, such information easily finds its recipients and effectively influences them, which contributes to the effectiveness of information warfare. The publication presents the results of research on the essence of information warfare conducted by domestic and foreign researchers. A definition of "information warfare" is presented; a historical overview of the leverage of its main tools and strategies in the 1920s and at the beginning of the 21st century is covered; the main narratives of waging an information war both at the national and international levels are formulated. The article provides a general overview of Russian information warfare and its consequences on Ukrainian statehood. The main tools and methods of information warfare campaigns are defined, including propaganda, disinformation, manipulation, etc. The authors analyzed individual statements of the leader and propagandists of the Kremlin. The publication recommends tools in the design of Ukrainian policy to counter the Kremlin's adversarial behavior, that is media literacy and critical thinking among the Ukrainian public. The role of separate institutions, international organizations, and projects that are currently conducting effective countermeasures against the information war in Ukraine has been analyzed. In addition, this research outlines the patterns of Russian information warfare in Georgia and Ukraine, providing a valuable comparative analysis after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022. Regarding the practical relevance of the research results: it is important that the research output is taken into account when developing educational programs on the history of national and international journalism and media literacy in universities.