The Russians are waging a psychological war against the Ukrainians, using the situation in Mariupol/The Azov Regiment
Forces of information and psychological special operations in Russia have existed and improved for decades. Having vast experience and unlimited funding, enemy experts constantly and, unfortunately, extremely effectively attacked the information space of Ukraine. With the onset of a large-scale invasion, the incidence of such attacks has increased significantly.
According to experts, Russia has always used the principle of “divide and rule.” Because people who have rallied against a common enemy are much more difficult to overcome than a divided society. Therefore, the enemy intelligence services very competently used the narrative of the three hetmans, sowing discord among politicians, the population, and the military.
Propaganda, the activities of openly pro-Russian TV channels and websites, the use of a network of bots and former officials who have weight in society have led to the fact that Ukrainians have ceased to trust the authorities and journalists. The Russians have managed to make bad news from unverified sources more readily accepted as truth than balanced and verified information.
The best IPSO is made by conscious Ukrainians /h2>
Russian special services are quite versed in how to do information-psychological special operations. They hit what is the most painful among the population. Remember only the battles near Zelenopolye, when the invaders hit the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Social networks immediately began to spread unconfirmed information about the military, “who were left to fend for themselves.” This led to a picket by the relatives of the soldiers of the 24th mechanized brigade near the military registration and enlistment office and the military unit in Yavoriv.
Of course, native soldiers can be understood. There is nothing to blame them for, but it was the Russians who created such a tense situation from the psychological side, which led to such actions.
In addition, it must be said about the Ilovaisk tragedy, when tens of thousands of Ukrainians put pressure on the military-political leadership of Ukraine to save the Donbass battalion, which found itself in a threatening situation. It is absolutely certain that the General Staff did not act due to the coercion of society, but the dispatch of a large number of units to this city led to a significant complication of the situation at the front and to the encirclement of the National Guard soldiers, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and volunteer battalions. And even years after the tragedy, a considerable number of Ukrainians believe that “the leadership was leaking patriots.” The Russian forces of the IPSO have done a lot of work so that this phrase is deposited in the back of many quite conscious people.
The Russians realized that the best psychological special operation is done by Ukrainians, that it is enough to throw in a certain narrative for people to spread it themselves.
Calls to unblock Mariupol at any cost help the Russians
After the failure of Russia's offensive against the Kiev, Sumy and Chernihiv regions, the Russian special services realized that it was a convenient time to split the Ukrainians. At the same time, Mariupol has become the hottest and most painful point for the whole society, where Azov fighters and marines are putting up heroic resistance.
The Russians began to shoot and distribute videos with supposedly “captured fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, who turned out to be mobilized in disguise. This was presented as allegedly “heroic marines were left without ammunition and food, and were forced to surrender.” Subsequently, it was the Russians who launched the flash mob “The Office of the President is draining Mariupol”, began to create pictures with calls for de-blockade of the city at any cost. All this was willingly spread by patriotic Ukrainians, who are hurt by the fate of the civilians and military who find themselves in the encircled city. On the evening of April 11, when the Azov fighters reported that chemical weapons had been used against them, even adult men in various chat rooms wrote in panic that “there would be no Azov until the morning.” Most likely, the Russians actually used something prohibited by the conventions, but they did it for two things:
- checking red lines by Western countries;
- continuing the psychological state of all Ukrainians.
Not a single call to action from the military leadership, distributed in social networks, in any way brings admission assistance to the “Azovites” and the marines. At the same time, almost every such post about Mariupol immediately causes an invasion of bots that help Ukrainians believe in treason.
In fact, all the generals, including Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny, are solving the problem of Mariupol. This work cannot be seen sitting on the couch. It is hidden both from the enemy and from the majority of Ukrainians. In addition, the heroes themselves and the defenders of the port city are not going to give up and say that they believe in the military-political leadership of Ukraine.
Therefore, now we are all watching the difficult situation at the hot spot of the war, when a cold mind can save everyone, because trust in the General Staff must be maintained, and the pressure of society, which will lead nowhere, only helps the Russians to sow discord.
