Old Wine in a New Bottle: Russia’s Modernization of Traditional Soviet Information Warfare and Active Policies Against Ukraine and Ukrainians

Abstract

ABSTRACTInformation warfare was not invented by Vladimir Putin, but draws on Soviet information and disinformation campaigns. This article adds to the scholarly literature by showing the links between Tsarist, Soviet, and Russian narratives in Moscow’s contemporary information warfare. Messages in Russia’s information warfare are not only traditionally Soviet; they are also Tsarist when referring to Ukrainians. A second addition to the literature analyzes why Russia’s ‘Chekist’ counterintelligence state places Ukraine and Ukrainians at the forefront of Moscow’s information warfare.