Russian Influence Operations and the War in Ukraine

This book provides a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the full spectrum of Russian influence operations targeting international actors and various segments of society following the onset of the war in Ukraine. It explores Russia's revisionist foreign policy, which has long aimed to challenge the post-Cold War international order through a combination of information operations and military power. Russia's extensive military campaign in Ukraine is framed not merely as an assault on the Ukrainian nation but as a broader confrontation with Western countries, as orchestrated by the Kremlin. The book examines the deliberate escalation of tensions since the Euromaidan protests in Kyiv (2013-2014) and the subsequent overthrow of the pro-Russian Yanukovych regime. This period marked the beginning of intensified hostilities, culminating in the annexation of Crimea and the establishment of pro-Russian puppet states in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2014, followed by their incorporation into the Russian Federation in February 2022. In addition to providing a historical overview, the book examines the organization and structure of Russian influence operations. It introduces modernized concepts and offers a novel classification of "influence operations," exploring their connections to information warfare, computational propaganda, disinformation, cyberattacks, AI-generated attacks, and the manipulation of politicians and opinion leaders, among other tactics. This study presents a critical resource for understanding the multifaceted nature of Russian influence strategies in the contemporary geopolitical landscape.

Vladimir Sazonov is Research-Professor at the Estonian Military Academy and Associate Professor at the University of Tartu Holger Mölder is Associate Professor of International Relations and International Security Studies at Tallinn University of Technology Sergii Pakhomenko, Senior Researcher at the Faculty of Economic and Social Science of the University of Latvia (Riga) and Associate Professor at the Political Science and International Relations Department of Mariupol State University Illimar Ploom is in Baltic Defence College, previously Associate Professor of Strategy at the Estonian Military Academy Colonel (ret.) Zdzislaw Sliwa, PhD hab. is the faculty of the University of Wroclaw, previously Dean of the Baltic Defense College in Tartu, Estonia, and Visiting Professor at the Latvian National Defense University in Riga

Part I.- Chapter 1. Does History Matter? Historical Politics, Narratives and the Securitisation of Memory in the Russo-Ukrainian War (Sergii Pakhomenko).- Chapter 2. The Role of Affect and History in Russia's Strategic Conspiracy Narratives in the Context of the War in Ukraine (Andreas Ventsel).- Chapter 3. The Evolution of Russian Strategic Narratives on Military Humanitarian Intervention and Responsibility to Protect from Georgia to Ukraine (Juris Pupcenoks).- Chapter 4. The Personal Factor in Ukraine's Strategic Communication in Times of War (Iryna Gridina).- Part II.- Chapter 5. Introduction to Russian AI Exploitation for Influence Operations (Anthony Seaboyer).- Chapter 6. Forced Passportization as a Mechanism of Subjugation and Creation of Collaborational Narratives in the Occupied Territories of Ukraine (Maksym Bulyk).- Chapter 7. Strategic Corruption and its Role in the Russian Aggression against Ukraine (Gediminas Buciunas).- Chapter 8. Unification Versus Localisation: National Minorities of Southern Ukraine in Russian, Ukrainian, and Regional Historical Narratives (Kostyantyn Balabanov).- Part III.- Chapter 9. EU-NATO Cooperation and Perspectives on Countering Hybrid Threats (Ramon Loik).- Chapter 10. Challenges to Homeland Security in Countering Latent Hybrid Threats during the War in Ukraine: The Case of Estonia (Holger Mölder).- Chapter 11. Severing Ties with Russia: The Effects of the Russo-Ukrainian War on Latvia (Ieva Berzina).- Chapter 12. From Soft Power to Counter-Normative Propaganda: The Case of the 2024 World Youth Festival in Sochi (Andrey Makarychev).- Chapter 13. Russian Disinformation Narratives in the Election Campaign for the National Parliament Elections in Poland in 2023 (Juliusz Sikorski).- Chapter 14. The Role of «Alternative for Germany» in Spreading Russian Narratives (Tetiana Ivanets).