This year alone, the Russian Federation has allocated 1.5 billion euros for information warfare against Ukraine – Deputy EU Ambassador
Kyiv • UNN
The Russian Federation has directed 1.5 billion euros toward disinformation aimed at splitting Ukrainian society. The EU is learning from Ukraine's experience and increasing sanctions pressure.
Events on the information and cognitive fronts today are no less decisive than direct combat operations. This was emphasized by the Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Gediminas Navickas, reports UNN.
According to the diplomat, European partners are currently actively adopting Ukrainian experience in countering hybrid threats, reports the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.
Gediminas Navickas emphasized that the European Union and Ukraine have been confronting common challenges in the information sphere for many years, the key source of which remains the Russian Federation.
"Ukraine is on the front line of cognitive warfare, so we need to learn from you and adopt your experience of working on the information front," the Deputy Ambassador stated.
He noted that Russian intelligence services and media structures are systematically implementing influence operations aimed at splitting Ukrainian society from within, weakening the level of support for Ukraine in European countries, discrediting Ukraine's European integration processes, and distorting the perception of its future accession to the EU.
However, the diplomat expressed confidence that the Kremlin will never be able to achieve these goals.
The scale of Russian funding for disinformation campaigns remains colossal. According to data voiced by Navickas, this year alone, the Russian Federation has allocated about 1.5 billion euros for the implementation of foreign information influence operations.
In response to these threats, the EU is increasing sanctions pressure on the architects of Russian propaganda.
The Deputy EU Ambassador emphasized that cognitive warfare is not a hypothetical threat of the future, but a daily reality that is affecting political and social processes right now.