ATTACK ON LEGITIMACY: HOW RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA DESTABILIZES THE SOCIO-POLITICAL SITUATION IN UKRAINE THROUGH SPREADING DISINFORMATION ABOUT THE LOSS OF LAWFULNESS OF STATE AUTHORITIES

Abstract

One of the key tools of the hybrid war that the Russian Federation is waging against Ukraine is the information war, which constantly takes on new forms, depending on the context – the socio-political mood of Ukrainians, events on the front, or changes in the perception of Russian aggression in the global environment. Russia’s information war against Ukraine has not stopped since Ukraine regained its independence in 1991. In different periods, it had different forms and tools, which could be less aggressive, but its ultimate goal has always been the same – to prevent Ukraine from leaving the sphere of influence of the Russian Federation, to prevent it from becoming a full-fledged and independent subject on the political map of the world, to prevent the final consolidation of its Western civilizational choice through integration into the EU and NATO. This article aims to analyze the next stage of Russia’s information war against Ukraine, which involves the active use of narratives about the loss of legitimacy of Ukraine’s highest state authorities, namely the institution of the Presidency; to examine the concept of legitimacy of state authorities under martial law and the impossibility of holding democratic elections; to develop and propose main ways to counter Russian propaganda, which actively destabilizes the socio-political situation in Ukraine through disinformation about the illegitimacy of government bodies. The results of this study can be used in further work on the issues of Russia’s information war against Ukraine, countering Kremlin propaganda and disinformation, as well as to raise awareness of Ukrainians on information hygiene and security. The refutation of Russian narratives about the loss of legitimacy by Ukrainian authorities, substantiated in the article, can be actively used to counter propaganda Kremlin insertions in the press and social networks.