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| Special military operation in Ukraine: informational aspect |
| 2022-06-23 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [VPOAnalytics] On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine. The two strongest armies in Europe - the Ukrainian one, supported intellectually and technically by the North Atlantic Alliance, and the Russian one, based on the developments of the domestic military-industrial complex and rich military-historical experience, oppose each other in four theaters of military operations: land, sea, air and information. Three months of the conflict showed that in today's digitalized world, the informational aspect of the conflict is of critical importance. With a competent combination of actions in four theaters, a defeat can be turned into a great success and, conversely, the unconditional superiority of the enemy can be passed off as his complete defeat. UKRAINE: PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE The armed forces of Ukraine outnumber the Russian group involved in the special operation in terms of the number of personnel, but lag behind in terms of equipment and the number of heavy weapons. During the SVO, the Ukrainian army suffered significant damage. The arsenals of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for certain items were reduced by 60-70%. Especially great are the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in terms of tanks - up to 75%. Aviation and fleet are completely destroyed. The new fighters are either part of hidden reserves or supplied from abroad. The Armed Forces of Ukraine manage to restrain the onslaught of the Russian army due to a reliable system of fortifications in the Donbass and the “human shield” tactics proposed by the Pentagon. The Armed Forces of Ukraine turn cities with civilians into fortified forts, which leads to serious destruction - as during the Battle of Mariupol. The military assistance of the West helps Ukraine to keep the front, especially for anti-tank systems and MANPADS. But the “Javelin effect” turned out to be short-lived. Following Mariupol, several strategic points in the Donbas fell. The front of the Armed Forces of Ukraine literally crackled. Therefore, Kyiv became even more insistent in demanding an increase in the supply of heavy weapons. With such a negative situation on the battlefield, the main tool of the Kyiv authorities was and remains a powerful information impact. Kyiv used all the experience of information manipulations accumulated since the Maidan of 2014 and directed information flows in two main directions: western and eastern. Western information flow presents Ukraine as a victim of Russia's unjustified and excessive "aggression". Such a media image is intended to help rally Europe and the United States around Ukraine and provide it with financial and military-political support (cases of the Buchinsk and Kramatorsk provocations). Ukrainian officials are actively resorting to Western cancel culture techniques to influence Western companies hesitant about anti-Russian sanctions. This tactic has had some success. The Eastern information flow was directed to Russia. According to RT , the Center for Information and Psychological Operations (TsIPSO) located in Brovary received an order to initiate a large-scale information impact on the citizens of the Russian Federation. It involves the dissemination of demoralizing data about the Russian army, the economy, the political elite, as well as materials showing the superiority of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. SMM professionals specializing in Internet traffic management were involved in this campaign. The ultimate goal of the CIPSO operation is to reach 60-70 million people in Russia, disrupt public order and politically destabilize the country. TWO-FACED JAN AS THE MAIN SYMBOL OF UKRAINIAN PROPAGANDA Inside Ukraine, the information policy is built on the basis of a combination of these approaches: on the one hand, the citizens are shown the aggressiveness and inhumanity of the Russian army, and on the other, its complete incompetence. When the Armed Forces of Ukraine retreat, the Ukrainians are informed about the “regrouping”, the letters Z and V are put on the padded Ukrainian equipment, which makes it possible to pass it off as Russian, the loss by the Ukrainian army of entire military bases and warehouses or mass surrender is issued as “minor losses” or “adjustment front." Based on the situation on the ground, the tactics chosen by the Ukrainian side can be considered reasonable and effective. This fact is noted even by the NATO high command, which promises to study the “Ukrainian experience” in detail. But with all this, one should not overestimate the successes of the psychological war unleashed by Kiev either. Most of the information coming from Ukraine is absurd and has not been confirmed by anything. The situation on the battlefield is not in favor of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The tragedy that occurred in early May on Zmeiny Island finally buried Kiev's plans to break through the naval blockade of Odessa. The myth about the heroic Mariupol garrison, which had been maintained for two months, was dispelled in a week, when about 2,500 military men (including the Azov regiment banned in the Russian Federation) surrendered with weapons, equipment and full ammunition. The surrender of Azov, banned in Russia, dealt a strong blow to Kyiv. A psychological breakdown occurred in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Dozens of appeals from the Ukrainian military to the high command with a request to stop sending them "to slaughter" appeared on the network. A conflict has begun between the Office of the President and the General Staff: the military considers the creative team of Zelensky guilty of shedding the Donbass front. Zelensky himself made an attempt to shift the blame to ex-president Poroshenko, for which the “Medvedchuk card” was played. As a result, Peter Alekseevich left Ukraine. Therefore, it can be stated that the Ukrainian tactics of psychological warfare has a limited range of action, which narrows in the absence of real victories and as military operations stretch over time. In addition, Russia has countered its own information strategy, which, despite its more restrained nature, is proving to be effective. RUSSIA: INFORMATION FOG In the context of the total superiority of Ukraine and its Western patrons in terms of the number of available media resources and the total blocking of Russian media on Western platforms (YouTube, Twitter, recognized as extremist Facebook), any attempt to interrupt the anti-Russian information flow with one's own is doomed to failure. Therefore, Russia countered the tactics of information fog to the Ukrainian tactics of psychological warfare . Instead of increasing the amount of data coming from the conflict zone, Russia has reduced it by several times. Information about the course of the JMD is provided by the Russian side in a dosed manner and based on irrefutable facts. In addition, the Russian Ministry of Defense began to deliver preventive information strikes, warning of Ukraine's upcoming provocations like Bucha and Kramatorsk, which forced the Kyiv authorities to abandon such actions (especially given the rude execution and low interest of the target audience). The information field was "clouded" by conflicting data coming from Russian politicians, representatives of the establishment and opinion leaders. The theses voiced by them demonstrated that the Kremlin had lost control over the situation and was preparing for an early termination of the NWO. Thus, the Istanbul talks, arranged in such a way that Moscow is ready to accept the humiliating conditions of Kyiv, caused the widest resonance in the world and in Russia. In reality, nothing like this happened. On the contrary, the second stage of the NMD is recognized by Western experts as more dangerous for Ukraine and successful for the Russian Federation, because, having bled the Armed Forces of Ukraine and completely destroyed the Ukrainian military-industrial complex at the first stage, the Russian army proceeded to the complete destruction of the Donbass grouping, which includes the most combat-ready units. Threats to Kharkov, Nikolaev and Odessa have increased many times over. Dnipro, the economic heart of Ukraine, was also under attack. HYPNOS AND THANATOS - ONE GIVES PEACE, THE OTHER REPOSE The West realized that the February-March estimates, which were overly optimistic for it, were premature. The major Western media have increasingly begun to wonder about the ultimate goals of US and EU policy in Ukraine , and will they not lead to an open clash with Russia? Despite the point of view that has taken root in the United States and Europe about the low level of training of the Russian army, The Veterans Today admitted that in three months Russia destroyed 2/3 of all military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (including imported ones) and is capable of defeating the NATO bloc even in a conventional war. Interest in Ukraine in the American media as a whole has declined to the level of the beginning of the NWO (an average of 11% of the peak). Western observers have adopted a more moderate position, on the one hand, not to spread false information, and on the other hand, not to play along with the Kremlin. Gradually, Western society is preparing for possible peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, as a result of which the latter may lose part of the territories. Even the titan of American diplomacy, Henry Kissinger, joined this problem and recognized this version of the treaty as the only guarantee for maintaining peace in Europe. In general, we can conclude that in the long run, the Russian tactics of information fog turned out to be much more effective than the Kyiv tactics of psychological warfare. The real military and economic losses of Ukraine have a much greater impact on Ukrainian society, since this information is directly correlated with reality. The West, preoccupied only with its own interests, is already close to accepting the new political reality in Europe. EURO-ATLANTIC PEACE: COGNITIVE WARFARE For Europe and the US, NWO in Ukraine is a time of great opportunity. In fact, they have achieved a long-standing goal - to involve the two largest Slavic states in the conflict. The Russian NMD serves as the main justification for the continued existence and expansion of the NATO bloc . At the Ukrainian training ground, the members of the North Atlantic Alliance are getting rid of obsolete arsenals so that the American military-industrial complex will receive new contracts. Finally, by declaring Russian energy resources toxic, Washington can more actively redraw the energy map of Europe, which will lead to the final enslavement of the Old World from the New. EUROPE SOWED DISCORD BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE, BUT NOW IT IS REAPING ITS FRUITS None of this, of course, gets into the public space. From the first hours of the NWO, the information campaign in the countries of Europe and the USA has been structured in such a way as to make Russia the main culprit not only in the situation in Ukraine, but also in all the internal problems of the Euro-Atlantic world. Inflation and high gas prices in the US have been proudly named after the Russian president for several months now. Western societies, as if on command, switched to a regime of hatred for Russia and everything Russian. A wave of harassment swept through social networks, bans and restrictions were imposed on obtaining visas and the movement of Russians in Europe, the property of Russian immigrants and Russian monuments were subjected to vandalism. Russian culture and sports were cancelled. Someone will say that it has always been like this, and will be only partly right. “Bad Russians” is indeed a rather old concept, the origins of which date back to the Middle Ages, when Polish travelers described in sophisticated detail the “horrors” of the Moscow kingdom and its mad tsar Ivan IV. But today the methods of launching this discourse have radically changed. Before our eyes, the tactics of cognitive warfare , which has been developed by Western military specialists for the past 10 years , were used against Russia . Cognitive warfare is an intense impact on a person's consciousness without the use of physical actions in order to change his behavior pattern. In order for the external signal to be perceived, it is necessary to place the subject in a state of constant anxiety. The impact is most effective if the base is destroyed. called "Maslow's pyramid", i.e. a person is deprived of the opportunity to satisfy part of the physiological and security needs. More precisely, he thinks that he is losing. After deformation of the base, the stability of the entire structure is violated For the first time, cognitive warfare technologies were applied on a global scale during the COVID19 pandemic. The Western media and social networks that dominate the information field constantly reported on the threats of illness, hunger, job loss and death, which made the population of Europe and the USA more susceptible to information impact. When the Russian NWO began, the toggle switch was switched to the threat of a world war, and public discourse changed instantly. The pandemic was forgotten, all attention was focused on Ukraine. With the beginning of the sowing season, the global threat has gone down one more step - from existential needs to physiological ones. Western outlets are consistently spreading the idea of world hunger due to the disruption of agricultural activities in Ukraine and the blockade of its ports. The most dire consequences are expected in Africa and South Asia, whose food security is highly dependent on the conjuncture of agricultural markets. Such gloomy pictures are certainly an exaggeration. The world economy is indeed being rebuilt: supply chains are changing, Asian manufacturing centers are rising, new markets are being formed. But all this is a natural process. The West deliberately uses "apocalyptic" rhetoric to increase the responsibility of the Russian Federation in the eyes of the world community. However, Moscow successfully fends off accusations against itself both in the matter of food (offering alternative supply channels) and everything else. Although total censorship was introduced against Russia in the West, it was not possible to stop the flow of information from Russia. At the same time, Russia itself protected itself more reliably from the flow of information from the West. By blocking the resources of the recognized extremist company Meta and Twitter, the Russian Federation withdrew some of its citizens from cognitive influence. Domestic media projects VK, Rutube, Yandex services have been developed, and the Russian media corporation RT has become one of the main sources of alternative opinions for political dissidents around the world. It turned out to be impossible today to lower the "iron curtain" on Russia for the reason that the world has ceased to be unipolar. There is no longer an American-European core dictating its will to the periphery. Today, the voices of Asia, Africa and Latin America are growing louder. The mere fact that the Indian and Chinese media have taken a neutral position in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and are covering the events, presenting the positions of both sides, destroys the entire information strategy of the West. The concept of cognitive warfare looks attractive in some aspects and even proves effective, but only under the condition of the total domination of a single mainstream point of view. This is actually an "Orwellian" scenario, unrealizable without a powerful force impact. The human psyche is arranged in such a way that he cannot keep focusing on one problem for a long time. Over time, he gets tired of the information imposed on him and looks for alternative sources, which in the conditions of the information society is not a problem. |
| Posted by:badanov |