INFORMATION WARFARE IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR 2022

In the ancient times flow of information was very slow and tepid as no channels of communication existed like they do in the present times, and the only way to communicate was to send physical messengers who would take a long time to reach the intended destination depending on the mode of communication like walking, running or riding a horse. The legend of 40-year-old Pheidippides who in 490 BC ran to Athens which was 25 miles away from the location of the Greek-Persian War in Marathon to announce the Greek victory and collapsed to death after delivering the news, gave rise to the modern-day marathon competitions. In the World War I and in the World War II leaflets were dropped over enemy lines with propaganda material by low flying aircrafts in order to subvert the minds of the enemy soldiers. Much had changed since then and information in the present times is as fast as one can click his fingers on the smartphone that 83.72% of the world's population possess as on 01 March 2022. As the Russian armed forces launched a ground offensive on 24 February 2022 in Ukraine, an intense Information Warfare was unleashed by the western media as a counter in order to bolster the morale of Ukraine. This IW campaign has two objectives – one it that Ukraine delays the victory of the Russian armed forces as late as possible so that the Russian troops wear out due to battle fatigue. The pressure of being in combat away from the family are tremendous and hence the modern wars have all been short. And the other reason is that Russia dries itself up financially and hence agrees on cease fire on the terms and conditions conducive to Ukraine. Russia has a forex of USD 630 billion and the cost of the war per day is costing Russia USD 20 billion. Economically Russia can't fight the war more than 31 days and hence the more the war stretches the more Russia will find itself in a precarious situation. The above two reasons quite explain the weapons being sent by NATO to Ukraine and the intense IW campaign unleashed against Russia. On 25 February 2022 a day after the Russian invasion of Ukraine the social media was agog with picture showing the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in military uniform and leading the resistance against Russia from the front. A fact check revealed that the picture of Zelenskyy under reference was an old one clicked on 09 April 2021. On 06 March 2022 Ukraine claimed that since the beginning of the Russian-Ukraine War on 24 February 2022, it had shot down 44 fighter aircrafts, 44 helicopters and 108 tanks of the Russians. However, till date not a single video has been released to substantiate their claims. Loss of one fighter aircraft, helicopter or a tank is an enormous loss and the release of its video would have caused immense embarrassment for the Russians and a victory of sorts for Ukraine. Clearly the truth was otherwise. Couple of days back in a startling claim, Ukraine claimed killing 11,000 Russian soldiers in 11 days of the war which makes an average 1000 Russian soldiers killed on each day of the ongoing war. This figure is indeed enormous considering the fact that 9,000 soldiers of Pakistan were killed in the India-Pakistan War of 1971 which lasted for 14 days from 03 December to 16 December 1971 and the figures work out to an average of 642 Pakistani soldiers killed in a day. The Indian Army is superior to the Pakistani Army as the Russian Army is superior to the Ukrainian Army in both strength and equipment. Hence the figures released by Ukraine about the damages caused to the Russian armed forces seem highly exaggerated and part of IW. Information Warfare is an important dimension of modern warfare though the traditional and time-tested mechanics of warfare like the use of the infantry and armoured corps still remains as important as before. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine War has shown how IW is leashed one way but for a determined and a well-trained army, IW has a negligible effect. Every Ukrainian should take a lesson or two from Germany Kent's quote "Being a good digital citizen means recognising and understanding the impact that the world wide web has on the virtual population and a commitment to adding valuable content whenever and wherever possible" and impress upon their President to end the war by issuing a one-line statement that Ukraine will not join NATO and save the future deaths and destruction. Enough of damage has been caused in Ukraine. As we go to press, news has come in that on 08 March 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine is no longer pressing for the membership of NATO. It is an action, too little too late as immense damage and destruction has already been caused in Ukraine. About the Writer – Lt Col JS Sodhi (Retd) The writer who retired from the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army is an alumnus of NDA, Khadakwasla and IIT Kanpur. He is a M.Tech in Structures has also done MBA and LLB and is a prolific writer and a public speaker. He tweets at @JassiSodhi24. The views expressed are personal.