THE 19TH CENTURY IN UKRAINE IN THE CONTEXT OF INFORMATION WARFARE

Abstract

The article describes the historical images and narratives within Moscow’s information warfare efforts relation to Ukraine’s 19^th century history, particu- larly in connection to Moscow’s ten years hybrid warfare actions and its 2022 invasion. The purpose of the article is to analyze the elements of the 19^th century history of Ukraine that are relevant to Moscow’s information warfare against Ukrainian interests in various information spaces and «battlefronts», along with determining why exactly does the 19^th century history matter to the Kremlin. It is concerned with determining the meaning of this informational support for Moscow’s soldiers themselves, for their sympathizers across the globe, and for the population of the territories occupied by Moscow’s forces, and for other observers of this war from different countries. The methodol- ogy, in connection with the review of diametrically different narratives in Moscow’s propaganda, and different approaches to information warfare de- pending on the specific infospace and intended audience, is based mostly on the historical-comparative method. The results of the study indicate that the symbolism of Moscow’s aggression was and remains inextricably linked with their historical imperial/colonial contacts with the territory of Ukraine in the 19th century, and thus constitute a form of imperialistic «phantom pains», yearning for a time when Ukraine both «did not exist», but simultaneously was very important for the core «Russian» identity. With the spread of occu- pation in the territories of Ukraine that went through decommunization, the aggressors have established new priorities: the «protection» of Tsarist and the return of Soviet symbols, despite the latter being downplayed in the Russian Federation itself itself, and the former being unaffected by decommunization. The article helps to reveal the complex psychological and informational aspect of the Moscow war, which includes the foundations of historical images and narratives to shape support and supposed legitimacy for aggression across various audiences. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the infor- mation strategies used in the context of war and underscores the importance of countermeasures and a need for understanding why the 19^th century history of Ukraine is a particularly interesting «object» to the Kremlin’s information warfare and politics of history in general.