It is too early to say if the information war against Russia has been won - Mykhailo Podolyak

It is too early to say if the information war has been won as Russia changes approach and begins to actively involve more sophisticated technologies, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, has said.

“It is too early to say if the information war has been won. On 24 February we reached a full understanding on how to deal with Russian narratives. Since 2014 they have seeked to promote a false view of Ukraine, our society and army.,” Podolyak has said at the 17th Yalta European Strategy (YES) Annual Meeting "Ukraine: Defending All Our Freedom", organised by by YES in partnership with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

He also said that Europe itself became a victim of the Russian propaganda. This explains the predictions that Russia would be able to seize Ukraine “in three days” which were so wrong.

“We were really shocked with Europe’s view that Russia is much stronger than it really is. We were shocked with the West’s expectations that Ukraine would lose in three days. It was only after a week that Europe began to realise that Ukraine may win this war,” Podolyak said.

According to The Atlantic journalist Anne Applebaum, the Russian state propaganda is based on the principle of undermining the very concept of truth.

“Russian disinformation is based on the principle of undermining the very concept of truth. They flood the information space with ambiguous statements. Their key message is “no one knows the truth and will never know,” Applebaum said.

Panel discussion Information War was organized in partnership with Foreign Affairs.