Exercises have not yet begun, but the Kremlin’s propaganda machine is attacking already
14.09.2021
Strategic command and staff exercise Joint Efforts – 2021 will start in Ukraine soon. It is planned that military exercises will be held at almost all military training grounds of Ukraine, as well as in the waters of the Black and Azov Seas.
The maneuvers will take place with the participation of all types and kinds of the Armed Forces of Ukraine troops, as well as units from our foreign partners. Foreign representatives and units from 15 NATO and Partner countries are expected to take part in the exercise. This shows solidarity and strong support from our international partners.
Almost at the same time, in September 2021 it is planned to hold joint military exercises of the Armed Forces of Russia and Belarus Zapad 2021, which potentially pose a threat to Ukraine, as the likelihood of aggression against our state increases. The exercises will take place not only in Belarus and Russia but also in the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea, the Donetsk, and Luhansk regions.
Exercises in Ukraine have not yet begun, and the Kremlin has already launched an aggressive information campaign to discredit the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the country’s top military and political leadership.
According to Dmytro Gromakov, head of research projects at the Rand Center for Social Engineering, the launch of an information and propaganda campaign of the Russian Federation against the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been recorded. Information about the alleged “acute and mass growth of COVID-19 cases among the Armed Forces of Ukraine exercise participants” is actively disseminated through social networks, Facebook, Telegram channels, and Ukrainian media, which actively pick up Russian narratives. The Russian Federation uses all the tools and available platforms for informational influence on Ukrainian society.
Dmytro Gromakov
On how to react to such information provocations from the Russian Federation, the ArmyInform correspondent learned in conversation with the head of the International Center for Countering Russian Propaganda Yury Kochevenko.
Yuri Kochevenko
The Russian Federation, in its usual manner, tries to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine in any possible way
The aggressor country is doing everything to level out or diminish the combat capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, their readiness to defend the state. For this purpose, information provocations are taking place already at the stage of preparation and directly during any military exercises in Ukraine, – said Yuriy Kochevenko. – The first target audience of this information campaign is the Russians themselves. Indeed, any activity, demonstration of the high level of combat capability acquired by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in recent years causes hysterical and panic notes among Russian propagandists.
According to him, the exercise Joint Efforts – 2021 will be held regularly, and no information provocations by the Russian Federation against Ukraine will be able to stop them.
– The Joint Efforts – 2021 exercise should demonstrate Ukraine’s readiness to push back against Russian aggression. Various training scenarios for the defense operations will be developed. At the same time, the exercise will work out probable scenarios of counteracting information sabotage of the Russian Federation directed against Ukraine, – noted the director of the head of the International Center for Countering Russian Propaganda.
The first propaganda narrative used by Russia in its information provocations is the leveling and diminishing the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s combat capability. In their messages, the Russians purposely spread false information, for example, about the alleged failure of the training plan, lack of ammunition, etc. In this way, by all available means, they demonstrate that there are no Armed Forces in Ukraine, that it is all just a sham or imitation of activity, that such an army is not able to effectively protect the state.
— This narrative is easily broken by the Armed Forces of Ukraine themselves demonstrating military preparedness. It is also necessary to actively communicate with the public and provide quality information on the real state of affairs in the army. Another narrative is to discredit the state’s top military and political leadership and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, attempts to sow discord, mistrust, the tension in society, which can undermine the state’s defense capabilities during the war, — Yuri Kochevenko said.
The most effective response to Russian disinformation provocations and manipulations is to increase the level of media literacy among the Ukrainian population and the Armed Forces servicemen in particular. People must be able to analyze, critically evaluate various messages from different media types.
Source: https://armyinform.com.ua/2021/09/navchannya-shhe-ne-rozpochalysya-a-propagandystska-mashyna-kremlya-vzhe-atakuye/