Andriy Yusov talked about the anti-Ukrainian disinformation campaign "Maidan-3".
Russia continues its attempts to implement anti-Ukrainian campaigns in the style of the Soviet KGB. The peak of the Russian anti-Ukrainian disinformation campaign “Maidan-3” will contain manipulations, hysterics, and exaggeration of the situation regarding mobilization and decisions of the Ukrainian government. This was reported by a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Yusov during an information marathon.
In particular, he was asked about the nature of the upcoming peak of the Russian campaign “Maidan-3” in the coming months.
“Betrayal, shame, and many other words that we all know well, and which will be used in various contexts: these are attempts to disrupt the mobilization campaign, attempts to delegitimize the decisions of the Ukrainian government, and overall attempts to destabilize the situation within the country, undermine our international coalition, and use the same Russian narratives, but not always directly. This can happen in different ways,” Yusov said.
This applies to situations where the veracity of information cannot be verified. There will be a lack of expert discussion, replaced by hysteria and exaggeration. Andriy Yusov emphasized the importance of being vigilant about information spread by anonymous sources. There may be manipulations on sensitive topics, such as the treatment of prisoners of war.
At the same time, Yusov was asked if there are procedural actions against those involved in the implementation of this anti-Ukrainian campaign.
“Counterintelligence measures in Ukraine are ongoing continuously. Both the Security Service of Ukraine and, in general, the security and defense sector are working on this. As for specific names, yes, kiriyenko, surkov. It is clear that all collaborators and traitors harbored by Muscovy at the moment will be involved in this in one way or another. Unfortunately, there are also names of those who are currently on the territory of Ukraine. As objects of influence. This does not mean that they have already agreed. This information is being verified and clarified,” Yusov noted.
According to him, the Russians are ready to spend unprecedented amounts on creating fakes and spreading propaganda. Currently, Russians have spent and allocated over $250 million for promoting their narratives on the Telegram network.
“But if we calculate the daily expenses of the terrorist state for war and the maintenance of the occupying corps, as well as ammunition, losses, social burden, sanctions, it is actually a profitable investment for putin, because it is easier to open an internal front in Ukraine than to defeat the defenders on the front line,” explained the intelligence representative.
Yusov stressed that these are not new methods for Russia: the Soviet Union had deep traditions of such disinformation campaigns. Therefore, as military and historians note, the Russians almost never defeated the Ukrainians on the battlefield – it always happened through tricks and division of Ukrainian society.
Andriy Yusov emphasized that unity among Ukrainians will be the main barrier to counteracting Russian fakes.