From Drones to PSYOP: Kiev Hosts Cognitive Influence & Resilience Forum 

Former 2014 Ukrainian reconnaissance soldier Maria Berlinska, a longtime advocate of the use of drones in the war against Russia and rising advocate of building Ukraine’s cognitive domain, organized last month’s Cognitive Influence & Resilience Forum in Kiev. Hosted by Berlinska’s new cognitive influence-dedicated nonprofit Victory Neurones, the forum brought together members of the public sector, think tanks, defense forces, tech firms and elsewhere to discuss strategy for Ukrainian cognitive influence operations. 

“Wars begin and end not in the trenches, but in people’s heads,” she said in a keynote. “You are the experts. I want us to talk and to shake up this field.”

In particular, the forum stressed the importance of cognitive resilience, as well as key approaches to plugging holes that Russia might exploit in Ukraine’s cognitive defenses.

Resilience: 

Every day, Ukrainian society faces “information pressure:” public fatigue, stories that stymie positive sentiment, and issues that divide opinion. In the effort to support the defense of the nation, these currents weaken society’s ability to be adaptable and active under wartime pressure. Finding ways to ward off this information pressure is crucial.

Plugging holes:

This piece is fairly self-explanatory– there is always room to improve cyber defenses, kill misinformation, etc., and Ukraine has come a long way on this front. One interesting thing the forum stressed is the importance of Ukraine’s international image, which in itself serves as a back door way for Russia to exploit holes in Ukrainian resolve. Finding the factors that contribute to this image, and strengthening them, is an underdiscussed path to shoring up Ukrainian cognitive resolve. 

Overall 

The forum is a big, bold step in a direction that Western governments need to go, just as the drone revolution has greased the gears of their military innovation in recent years. Keep an eye on Ukrainian strategy in the cognitive domain, because it is for them just one more critical component of the country’s defense. As the war winds down into an inevitably imperfect peace deal, cognitive influence operations will only gain more salience. 

Sources 

This discourse is inspired by the New York Times’ July 13 spotlight article “The Next Phase in Ukraine’s War With Russia: The Battle for Minds.” See also Victory Neurones’ Linkedin post summarizing the event here.