Andriy Yusov: Enemy devotes vast resources to propaganda war – Ukraine faces ongoing serious challenges

According to Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the adversary is heavily spearheading significant human, financial, and technological assets efforts into waging an information war against Ukraine. During a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform, Yusov highlighted two primary areas of Russian propaganda targeting Ukraine: internal destabilization and external influence.

“The enemy persists in pouring significant resources, including financial, human, and technological, towards information and propaganda warfare. Despite its cost, it remains a far cheaper alternative to investing in new tanks, guns, or large landing ships, which are now in shorter supply. Therefore, this battle will endure,” he stated.

Yusov outlined the two main thrusts of Russian propaganda: attempting to influence Ukrainians with disinformation and propaganda to foment internal destabilization, and setting up an external broad network of foreign language channels.

“Russia’s external propaganda messaging strategy is compartmentalized into various blocs. In Western democratic nations, the narrative attempts to cast doubt, peddling nonsensical stories about biolabs and heinous alleged crimes of Ukrainians. Similar tactics are employed in the Global South, where Russian propagandists echo Cold War-era terminology, exploiting information vacuums,” explained the Defense Intelligence representative.

Despite the formidable information challenges, Yusov stressed that Ukraine has successfully countered the enemy’s disinformation assaults.

“While the challenges remain exceedingly serious, Ukraine has not only withstood but also repelled and triumphed over the enemy’s information, propaganda, and disinformation onslaughts. This achievement is commendable given the vast discrepancy in resources. Unity and cohesion among entities like the Security Service of Ukraine, the expert community, and the media landscape have been pivotal. The invaluable contributions of information volunteers have also played a crucial role throughout this period. Importantly, Ukraine stands on the side of truth, defending itself from unjust aggression and genocidal warfare. These fundamental principles have enabled our victories thus far in waging information warfare, and I am confident they will continue to do so in the future,” added Andriy Yusov.

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