Russian Cognitive Warfare
Nataliya Bugayova of the Institute for the Study of War, wrote an extended but vital article on Russian Cognitive Warfare.
If you are interested in how Russia fights information wars, pushes disinformation and other tactics, this is a must-read.
Nataliya highlights Russian tactics as well as how they are applied by China, Iran and North Korea.
Equally important, she highlights tactics for the United States to counter Russian Cognitive Warfare.
As she writes in her opening line: Understanding cognitive warfare is a national security requirement for the United States.
Please read and share widely.
From the conclusion:
The US should not try to defend against Russian cognitive warfare symmetrically. The first step to negating Russia’s cognitive warfare is not to play by Russia’s rules, given that the Kremlin’s strategy of ‘reflexive control’ depends on Russia's ability to trigger a reflex or a reaction in their opponent. The key to neutralizing Russia’s cognitive warfare is to recognize when the Kremlin is attempting to implant premises to shape our reasoning and reject those premises. For example, the United States and its allies have an opportunity to reject a Russian premise by dismantling the notion that Russia is entitled to its claimed sphere of influence or that Russia will inevitably win militarily in Ukraine.
Actions in reality, e.g. physical means, are often the most effective ways to neutralize cognitive warfare. It was Ukraine's successful drone and missile strikes against the Russian Black Sea Fleet that defeated Russia’s effort to create a false perception that Ukraine's resistance against Russia's aggression was spoiling global food security. Ukraine’s military action denied Russia the ability to impose a de facto blockade and, as a result, enabled grain trade through the Black Sea. Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk Oblast in August 2024 dispelled the Kremlin’s assertion that bringing conventional war and Western equipment into Russian territory would trigger Russian nuclear retaliation.