Subsequently, with the emergence of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (ID) and the introduction of propaganda as a subject (spetspropaganda) in the Soviet Military Institute of Foreign Languages (1942), the Soviets managed to greatly boost their capabilities in the realm of information operations (IOs). [...] In 2000, the changing attitude of the Russian ruling elites was reflected in the foreign policy concept of the Russian Federation (June 28) that prioritized the importance of “developing Russia’s own means to influence public opinion abroad,” and the Doctrine of Information Security (September 2000) that identified the range of issues, challenges and tasks to be dealt with in the short to medium t. [...] For instance, the emergence of the cyber-troops and research units (controlled by the MoD) (Sukhankin 2017b) vested the process of headhunting and selection of the most talented young specialists in the hands of the armed forces. [...] According to Russia’s logic, the main supporters of the post- 2014 Ukraine – the “instigators” of the Euromaidan – are the stalwarts of fascism and outspoken russophobes, implicated in the “ethnic cleansing” in the Donbass region. [...] The best proof of this is the notorious Kerch incident in November 2018 and the unfolding creeping annexation of parts of the Donbass region in April 2019 through the policy of issuing Russian passports (similar to the pre-2008 conflict in the South Caucasus).
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- Published in
- Canada
