This dissertation paper contains a complex analysis of Russia Federation's usage of influence on historical consciousness of targeted groups, such as Ukraine, Russia and the international community overall as means of warfare.
Relevance of this topic is supported by immense importance of Ukraine's defense, concerning outside threats to its national security. One of such threats is attempts from Russian Federation to transform the general consciousness in Ukraine, including the historical aspect of said concept. Final goal of this influence is as follows: changing general behavior of target audience in a required fashion for the aggressor, damaging national unity, ruination of public historical perception concerning national unity and promoting of the «Russian world» idea.
This dissertation paper contains detailed analysis of tactics and methods, utilized by the Russian Federation to achieve such goals, which generally outlines an effective model of protective measures concerning negative influence on historic consciousness. Certain special aspects of such a task pointed towards a need of a transdisciplinary tactic, which requires a synergy of such sciences as history, politics, social communications, law and others. An attempt at researching such a phenomenon of informational warfare in historical consciousness with limitations from mentioned practices would be ineffective at fully grasping the general threat to national security of Ukraine, as well as planning future countermeasures.
To successfully achieve the objective of this paper, it contains analyzed points of modern scientists concerning phenomenon of informational warfare as a modern method of achieving geopolitical goals, its nature, main features, as well as its forms and methods. Main informational channels, which are used as «informational weapon» delivery method to target destination, which are target groups of Ukraine's community divided by the enemy, are Mass Media and Methods of Mass Communication.
With general characteristics and qualities of Mass Media and Methods of Mass Communication in mind, the enemy plans and utilizes the negative informational influence.
Historical policy of Russian Federation is incredibly cruel, but in the last couple of years, it can be described as totalitarian. Specific changes in legal system, which include pluralism of thought in historical sphere, raise questions towards the question of freedom in controlled by the Russian Federation scientific community. Goals and methods of historical policy of Russian Federation are formulated in something called «Medinsky Doctrine», in turn «Offensive approach towards a question of keeping national interests of Russian Federation in historic sphere» is openly described in one of the President of Russian Federation Decree's. Main goals of such a politic are ensuring dominating presence of a previously formed narrative in informational space, which serves geopolitical interests of Russian Federation as a neo-imperialistic state.
In order to properly assess the informational influence, this paper offers to use a special formula, which determines the level of effectiveness of mentioned influence on target audience. Digital value of mentioned level can vary in a wide range, and even take a negative value, which makes this a main factor in practical effectiveness of any informational influence.
With analyzed factors in mind, a modernized model of counter-influence towards informational Russian Federation's influence is presented in this paper. Such a model includes a simultaneous usage of three forms of counter-influence:
- Regular monitoring of informational space with goal of identifying NII
- Decreasing the level of NII by using sanctions towards identified actors, responsible for creation NII
- Creating a specific informational space in informational space for Ukraine, which could create a minimal optimal level of effectiveness concerning NII.
