Russia’s hybrid invasion in Belarus during the presidential election campaign 2020

• Authors: Anastasiya Ilyina
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

There are various instruments for Russia to have influence on its neighbours, such as using opinion leaders (authorities), intellectuals, and journalists to create a favourable informational context or to place the ordered materials in the media so as to have an impact on public opinion. These are the types of information attacks that can lead to the loss of statehood or the substantial limitation of sovereignty. This hybrid aggression strives to precisely this result. The main questions are: how the Russian information space, mud-slinging and troll farms functioned in Belarus during the presidential election? How the fake news which is produced in Russia impacts societies? Which political scenarios appeared in Belarus following Russia’s informational influence? It is a fact that today the Russian authorities use tools of fake news and propaganda; combined with the extra possibilities of social media. The appearance of fake news is connected with national safety because they jeopardize democratic institutions, lead to the radicalization of society, and change the balance of authority. In the research, the methodologies were used from the sociology of communication, political science and content analysis.

Keywords

EN

fake news; an Internet shutdown; information warfare; a hybrid war; new media

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Łódzki. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Journal: Eastern Review
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 9
• Pages: 121-129

Dates

published

2020-12-30

Contributors

author

Anastasiya Ilyina

• Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies, Vilnius, Lithuania, Biełsat TV, Warszawa, Polska

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5786-0365

References

• Atlantic Council. 2020. Is Putin about to make a costly mistake in Belarus?, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/is-putin-about-to-make-a-costly-mistake-in-belarus/ (accessed 11.02.2021).
• Avdeeva, M. 2020. Kremlin’s Influence Operations: Working Out Countering Mechanisms for Eastern Partnership Member States, https://isans.org/articles-en/kremlins-influence-operations-working-out-countering-mechanisms-for-eastern-partnership-member-states.html (accessed 11.02.2021).
• Chatham House. 2020. By Inventing Military Threats, Lukashenka Is Playing with Fire, https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/08/inventing-military-threats-lukashenka-playing-fire?fbclid=IwAR1IwDRaQQ640SEzqYEjtFLJ4CjiVkUVQwrBF9D0qIj0bdEhlsr2khnA7bg&utm_content=belarus-lukashenka-war&utm_medium=organic-social&utm_source=facebook.com (accessed 11.02.2021).
• College of Europe. 2020. THE STALEMATE OF DEEPENED INTEGRATION: ANALYSIS OF THE RUSSIAN ANTI-BELARUS DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN IN 2019, https://www.weasa.org/the-stalemate-of-deepened-integration-analysis-of-the-russian-anti-belarus-disinformation-campaign-in-2019/?fbclid=IwAR1C9cr1CWp-9em_fLrbFl06cVmZi8m8-85qiWFXQs-qgI_IZHftQcxVfxg (accessed 11.02.2021).
• EAST Center. 2019. Fundamental Shifts in Anti-Belarusian Disinformation and Propaganda: Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Changes, https://east-center.org/fundamental-shifts-in-anti-belarus-disinformation-and-propaganda/ (accessed 11.02.2021).
• EAST Center. 2020. Sputnik Belarus’s Propaganda and Disinformation: Narratives, Methods, and Trends, https://east-center.org/sputnik-belarus-propaganda-and-disinformation-narratives-methods-and-trends/ (accessed 11.02.2021).
• Kovalev, A., Avesyushkin, Y. 2020. How the Russian state media rescued Belarusian broadcasters from political pluralism, https://isans.org/articles-en/how-the-russian-state-media-rescued-belarusian-broadcasters-from-political-pluralism.html (accessed 11.02.2021).
• Kuleba, D. 2019. Vіyna zareal’nіst’: yak peremagati u svіtі feykіv, pravd і spіl’not. Kiїv: Knigo.
• Magda, Ye. 2015. Gibridnai︠a ︡voĭna: vyzhit’ i pobedit’. Khar’kov: Vivat Publishing.
• Morozov, A. 2020. Kremlin operation to intercept control over the situation in Belarus, https://isans.org/columns-en/kremlin-operation-to-intercept-control-over-the-situation-in-belarus.html (accessed 11.02.2021).
• New Eastern Europe – A bimonthly news magazine dedicated to Central and Eastern European affairs. Issue 4/2020 The Kremlin’s Hybrid War, https://neweasterneurope.eu/product/issue-4-2020-the-kremlins-hybrid-war/ (accessed 11.02.2021).
• Yelisieyeu, A. 2020. (Bela)Ru(s)sian propaganda: three key ways to discredit Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, https://isans.org/columns-en/belarussian-propaganda-three-key-ways-to-discredit-svetlana-tikhanovskaya.html (accessed 11.02.2021).

Identifiers

DOI

10.18778/1427-9657.09.08