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Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence explains how Russian psyops work and how to counteract bots
Ukrainska Pravda
VALENTYNA ROMANENKO
Thursday, 3 August 2023, 23:05
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/08/3/7414124/

SOURCE: Andrii Yusov, representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, live on Ukrainian Radio

QUOTE:
“Starting a ‘dialogue’ with the enemy’s bot is like arguing with a Russian tank. The tank of the invaders deserves only one thing – total destruction, and the bot deserves a ban.”

DETAILS:
Yusov stressed that Russia does not spare money for bot farms specialising in psychological operations. And the further the war unleashed by the Russian Federation continues, the trickier the enemy’s psyops can be, the representative of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence explains.

For the most part, the entry points are subtle. After another Russian shelling of the territory of Ukraine, for example, a message, call or letter from some distant “relative” from the Russian Federation appears: “How are you doing? I read that your city was attacked. Are you all right? “ Yusov gave an example of the psychological work of the Russians.

This kind of psyops as an attempt to influence the psychological state of Ukrainian defenders has not stopped since 2014 and possibly even earlier than that. But it has a wave-like character, the representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence states.

QUOTE: “Of course, after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, these contacts seem to have become very active, although on the other hand we have a natural massive break in the communication of Ukrainians with their relatives or acquaintances, childhood friends in the territory of the aggressor state.

But recently, after the intensification of the actions of the Ukrainian Security and Defence Forces and the continuation of the offensive, they are again trying to apply this influence. For the most part, this has no results. But the bet is on the fatigue of society, demoralisation, multiple repetition of false propaganda narratives. Like, ‘all this must be stopped,’ ‘the main thing is achieving peace as fast as possible,’ ‘we are brothers,’ ‘America is to blame for everything,’ etc.

Together with the offensive on some sections of the front, which the Russians are trying to continue, they are trying to attack the mind, psyche and hearts of the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and their families.

It is clear that a mother and wife waiting for the return of her son and husband from the front is a vulnerable part of society. The same vulnerable category is the family of our prisoners of war. The enemy is actively trying to exploit these weaknesses, but mostly without success.”

REFERENCE:
PSYOP – Psychological Operations. The purpose of PSYOPS is to influence the mood of different groups of society. PSYOP components: propaganda, disinformation, concealment of some information and inflation and exaggeration of another, etc.