"Creating false goals": how Kyiv activates the information war against Crimea

Kyiv has launched a new stage of the information campaign against Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, adviser to the head of the republic on information policy, said on his Telegram channel.

“In the past two weeks, Ukraine has launched a new stage of the information war against Crimea.

Dozens of false accounts have been created in networks and Telegram channels.

Throw-ins fix hundreds.

All LOMs (leaders of public opinion. -

) and “sleepers” are connected, he said.

At the same time, the authors of stuffing confuse the names of officials, events and dates, Kryuchkov noted.

In this regard, he called on the inhabitants of the peninsula to be more critical of the disseminated information and trust only trusted sources.

“For example, if a Crimean woman — an ‘officer’s daughter’ or a ‘Crimean Tatar’ — talks about an incident in the Magnit store in Feodosia, you just need to remember that there is no Magnit network in Crimea,” the adviser explained.

He also noted that the authorities of the republic are preparing a list of Telegram channels that have been caught spreading misinformation.

“We check any information.

We are preparing a list of Telegram channels caught on Ukrainian stuffing and work at the Central Institute of Social Security.

The list will be handed over to law enforcement agencies,” Kryuchkov added.

Maintaining morale

Experts believe that the Kyiv authorities have stepped up the information campaign on the Crimea for a reason.

“If earlier it looked like a fairly standard part of Kyiv's rhetoric, now it is being reinforced by the Americans.

It is enough to look at the latest statements by the leadership of the United States to conclude that Washington is deliberately organizing an information attack in the Crimean direction.

By making ambiguous comments about the possible development of events in Crimea, the United States thereby encourages the Kyiv authorities to escalate and raise their morale, ”political analyst Alexander Asafov said in an interview with RT.

In particular, at the end of September, Ukrainian Ambassador to Washington Oksana Markarova, in an interview with the Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper, stated that the United States had no restrictions on the use of its weapons against Crimea.

The Pentagon also announced the possibility of Kyiv to use American combat systems against the peninsula.

This was announced at a briefing by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia Laura Cooper.

In turn, on December 16, the American administration even told reporters that Kyiv could plan any military operations on the territory it considers its own.

“Ukrainians have the right to decide where they will carry out operations within their country, how they will be carried out, at what pace, on what scale and in what time frame,” RIA Novosti quoted John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, as saying.

At the same time, according to the NBC television channel, the US administration believes that the attempts of the Ukrainian authorities to “return” Crimea are fraught with nuclear escalation.

In addition, some US officials believe that Kyiv does not currently have the opportunity to organize an offensive, since in the near future its military will be concentrated in the northeast direction, the TV channel reported.

• MLRS HIMARS

• Legion Media

• © Roman Zaika

Hopes of Kyiv

The topic of the “return” of Crimea has recently been exaggerated by the leadership of Ukraine.

At the same time, they prefer to express their views on this matter to the Western media.

Thus, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Volodymyr Gavrilov, in an interview with Sky News on November 19, stated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly have the ability to reach Crimea within a month.

“We can set foot on the territory of Crimea, for example, by the end of December.

It's possible.

It is possible that this will happen,” he said.

The hopes of Kyiv to return the peninsula under its jurisdiction at the end of November were also voiced by the adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak, but outlined other terms for this.

“After six months, I will specially go to the Yalta embankment.

I will turn on from there ... and we will talk about what Crimea will be like.

And at this time, all the Russians who stole our property will leave from there, ”he said on the air of the Freedom TV channel.

Podolyak's plans were not disregarded by Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

On the same day, he wrote that such a “video connection” could well be organized, but from the Crimean pre-trial detention center.  

• Administration of the President of Ukraine in Kyiv

• Legion Media

• © Zoonar/Pavlo Vakhrushev

In turn, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview with the LCI TV channel on December 16, promised the Western public that they would immediately know when Kyiv would move troops in the direction of Crimea.

“When it happens, you will hear about it.

But I believe that in the minds of this reconquest has already begun, our determination and our will are already there, ”he said.

At the same time, Zelensky admitted that "the fight will be hard," since "no one will let go of a shred easily."

Meanwhile, in Crimea, Kyiv's plans to "capture" the peninsula are considered unrealistic.

As the head of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, noted in a commentary to RIA Novosti on December 17, there can be no talk of any approach of Ukrainian troops to the borders of the republic.

“These are the fantasies of their (Ukrainian. -

) figures, but we are already used to them,” he stressed.

distraction

According to political scientist Andrei Suzdaltsev, by speculating on the topic of the “return” of Crimea and intensifying Kyiv’s information campaign against the republic, Western media and Ukrainian officials are trying to wishful thinking. 

“They are trying in every possible way to create the impression that the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with the support of the United States and other allies, are limitless in order to create psychological pressure, including on the inhabitants of Crimea.

However, in reality, the goal is to divert attention from the real intentions of Kyiv, for example, to organize a counteroffensive in other directions, ”the expert explained in a conversation with RT.

In turn, Associate Professor of the Academy of Labor and Social Relations, Candidate of Political Sciences Pavel Feldman, in a commentary on RT, expressed the opinion that the new stage of Kyiv's information war against Crimea is connected with domestic political issues.

“Due to the difficult current situation of the Ukrainians due to the protracted conflict, Kyiv is trying to raise their morale with the help of manipulative technologies, creating the illusion of the prospects for grandiose successes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This is a classic technology for controlling public consciousness by creating false goals for which society is mobilized.

And for the sake of the longed-for goal called “Crimea”, people will have to endure hardships, shed blood, die, ”the analyst noted.

• Castle "Swallow's Nest" in Crimea

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Image Source

The United States is also interested in maintaining this illusion, which, with its ambiguous statements, inspires confidence in Kyiv in supporting their "Crimean" plans, Andrey Suzdaltsev believes.

“Washington is using Crimea to irritate Russia.

Moreover, the republic, having reunited with Russia, has become a symbol of the complete impotence of the United States to prevent the Russian Federation from defending its interests.

In this regard, the Americans encourage Kyiv’s provocations regarding the peninsula, continually increasing the degree of escalation of the conflict when it is beneficial for them, ”he explained.

However, both the United States and Kyiv should understand that the practical implementation of claims to Crimea will have a very tough response from Moscow, Pavel Feldman noted.

“If the United States believes that Kyiv will assume the entire burden of responsibility for them, then they are mistaken.

Their encouragement of the aspirations of the Ukrainian authorities will be regarded as complicity and aggression against Russia.

And in general, the United States should come to the realization that manipulating Ukraine to realize its geopolitical ambitions towards Russia is a very dangerous adventure.

Otherwise, the conflict may become an irreversible process to involve the West directly in hostilities,” Feldman summed up.