Russia's war against Ukraine is held not only with tanks; Russian propaganda targets Ukrainians and foreigners in order to break their will to resist. Here is what you need to watch out for to repulse the Kremlin's mind games.
Russian propaganda in the Ukraine war: breaking the will to resist
The focus of this article is a goal of information warfare specified in Manoilo’s paper: the manipulation of the consciousness designed “to break the will to resist” and subjugate “the consciousness” of the adversary. This goal is dismissed as too esoteric or simply overlooked, yet deserves closer attention due to its danger to the democratic world. According to Manoilo, modern information warfare technologies are built around the manipulations used “to control the political consciousness and behavior of citizens.” More traditional, rational methods of influence use verbal means, mass, and social media, and aim at “reason”:- knowledge;
- beliefs;
- values;
- stereotypes;
- perceptions;
- ideas.
- inclinations;
- desires;
- sensations;
- imagination;
- memory;
- moods;
- interpersonal perception.
A guide to Russian propaganda. Part 6: Spetspropaganda, the secret Soviet art of brainwashingThe invisible aggressor attacks the realm of emotions and dreams. The language is weaponized. For instance, the arsenal of consciousness manipulation via linguistic tools, including syntax and lexical semantics, is outlined in the book Word Manipulation in the Media by Anna Danilova, another Russian propagandist with an advanced degree and twenty years of experience in linguistic manipulation and influence during military campaigns.
A bit of gaslighting and mysterious Anglo-Saxon tribes
A popular writing technique used by the Kremlin political technologists is gaslighting, inherited from the KGB. To explain how modern technologies work, both Manoilo and Danilova describe the Kremlin information attacks but refer to the models of “Anglo-Saxon information operation.” “Anglo-Saxon,” a term commonly and incorrectly used by the Kremlin propagandists and Putin to describe mainly the UK, the US, and Canada and, occasionally, some other Anglophone countries, is borrowed and misinterpreted either from history, where it refers to a cultural group of Germanic origin inhabiting England in the Early Middle Ages; from linguistics, where it is applied to the dialects of the above tribe; or from economics, where the currently disputed term was used to describe a certain economic model in the 1970s.Good ol' Reflexive Control, adapted for the cyber age
In the 1960s — 70s, the Soviets developed “reflexive control” (RC) — a “psychological technology” for influencing public consciousness. Manoilo speaks of RC as both the art of manipulating individuals and groups and a method of societal control. “‘Reflexive control’ is defined as a means of conveying to a partner or an opponent specially prepared information to incline him to voluntarily make the predetermined decision desired by the initiator of the action,” according to Timothy L. Thomas, an analyst at the Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO) and a former US Army Foreign Area Officer with a specialty in Soviet/Russian studies.A guide to Russian propaganda. Part 5: Reflexive ControlThis method can be used on individuals and collectives, such as families, groups, countries, nations, societies, and civilizations. It is particularly beneficial when applied to the governments and political leaders in order to inconspicuously alter their decision-making ability.
If moderately successful, the method slows down the adversary’s policy-making and executive power. If triumphant, the power elite of the targeted country adopts decisions in favor of the adversary.
Cognitive weapons and psycho viruses
Thomas sheds light on the RC method in his article "Psycho Viruses and Reflexive Control. Russian Theories of Information-Psychological War" in The Transitions Forum’s Beyond Propaganda published by Legatum Institute. Thomas refers to a Russian theory of “an information weapon” designed to have an “information-psychological effect on one’s own society first, with the aim of ensuring that mass consciousness turns to patriotism. After this, attention moves to elites and their decision-making in other countries. The goal is to weaken the administrative and defensive potential of a country.” Thomas also quotes a Russian analyst, who, in 2014, wrote about “cognitive weapons” incepting “into an enemy country’s intellectual environment false scientific theories, paradigms, concepts, and strategies that influence its state administration in the direction of weakening significant national defense potentials.” Further, Thomas describes “psycho viruses” which cause the brain to "orientate itself in improper directions” similarly to computer viruses that cause laptops to malfunction, achieving these remarkable results “by interfering with its perceptions.” In their popular and frequently quoted book World War III, (Information-Psychological), authors V. Lisichkin and L. Shelepin wrote about the methods designed for the manipulation of consciousness as early as 2001. They described the psychological influence as “a virus that has invaded a cell,” embedded in the DNA molecules. The cell “outwardly remains the same” but the virus in DNA, indistinguishable from the environment, controls it. Vladislav Surkov, Putin’s ex-aide, referred to this method in 2019 when he wrote in an op-ed,“Foreign politicians talk about Russia’s interference in elections and referendums around the world. In fact, the matter is even more serious: Russia interferes in your brains, we change your conscience, and there is nothing you can do about it.”Mr. Surkov is wrong: raising public awareness, disinformation education, and a psychological approach are the key factors to “do something about it.”
