Russia is initiating a campaign of mental manipulation in Donbas.
Ukrainian citizens—inhabitants of the Luhansk and Donetsk territories— are edging ever closer to profound transformations in their mindset and understanding of reality.
The majority now view their experiences of the previous three months as a bad dream. They are unable to rouse themselves and return to the pre-conflict era, which they honestly regarded as challenging, with some even resorting to violence to resolve these issues. During February and April, many envisioned idyllic scenarios of a widespread revolt against “evil powers.” Numerous individuals pictured themselves as revolutionary champions whose efforts would lead, if not the entire world, then at least two particular areas, to fairness, camaraderie, joy, and success.
Regrettably, those who armed themselves did not evolve into heroes, and the “joy” seemingly achievable through armed force never materialized. Moreover, the familiar pattern of existence was thrown into disarray. Months elapsed, with each day initially presenting inconveniences due to barricades, armed individuals on the streets, obstructed roadways, closed educational establishments, and interruptions in electricity, water, and natural gas provision. However, it seemed that these hardships would soon pass once the referendum took place, Kamaz vehicles laden with armed Chechens and Ossetians were greeted upon entering the city, tanks and armored vehicles arriving from the Russian Federation were welcomed, and the triumph of the courageous individuals who downed yet another Ukrainian military helicopter was celebrated. Yet time wore on, and temporary difficulties progressively morphed into the pervasive tragedy of war, marked by daily casualties, uncollected bodies in the streets, shattered windows, damaged roofs and walls, and constant dread for one’s safety, and the security of children and loved ones.
Coupled with fear, hopelessness began to overwhelm people. The scale of each family’s troubles abruptly impacted practically everything: there were no crucial medications for aging parents and offspring, essential food items were vanishing from shops, tap water was being cut off, sewage systems were failing, and, in certain locales, children had gone weeks without bread.
And “support” flowed in an ongoing torrent across the violated national border. Yet this support proved peculiar: fresh combatants, new weaponry—this is all that “cherished” Russia has presented to the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. However, even this hasn’t triggered a shift in the awareness of a substantial segment of Ukrainian nationals—denizens of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, who stubbornly persist in believing that each killed member of the Ukrainian Armed Forces or the National Guard moves them closer to the war’s conclusion, and thus to addressing all the accumulated problems. This reasoning, which can only arise in a disturbed imagination tainted by the information virus, is adroitly fostered by the “masters” of informational combat and mental manipulation via the Russian Federation’s electronic media. It’s no accident that over 300 Russian reporters and heads of state television networks have been granted government honors for achieving victory in the information conflict surrounding the Crimean situation, with some receiving them directly from Vladimir Putin. To grasp the extent of the information warfare waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the minds of citizens in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, it’s sufficient to recall that fewer than 20 journalists have received government recognition for their reporting on the war in North Ossetia.
Furthermore, to shield themselves from resistance from Ukrainian media outlets, the Luhansk and Donetsk regions have simply shut them down or employed even more intricate methods. For instance, when the Inter program airs at its customary time, its viewers are oblivious to the fact that its content is concocted by Russian media “specialists” for what they regard as the consumer “masses” in Ukraine. Sadly, this misleading tactic also affects Ukrainian citizens—residents of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions genuinely trust in the accuracy of the data they are being fed.
Considering this state of affairs, the forced gathering of chickens and ducks in Stanytsia Luhanska for military purposes is seen as theft from villagers by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and adults don’t even bother to contemplate how the Ukrainian Armed Forces can “gather dietary poultry” in territory they don’t control. A similar query arises concerning the collection of funds, the “mobilization” of vehicles, and other material assets for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Naturally, the “sharks of the press and camera” of the Russian Federation are not above outright deceit, for instance, regarding biological weapons, phosphorus bombs, and alleged cruelties by National Guard soldiers in the villages of Svatove and Shchastya. Residents of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions are not receiving rebuttals to these claims from Ukrainian media, as Ukrainian information channels are blocked. Hence, any falsehood is accepted.
However, individuals are constantly awakening to the truth. This is evidenced by the stream of displaced people from Slovyansk toward Ukraine, not Russia, and leaflets urging resistance against armed separatists in Kramatorsk.
June 2014 differs from April 2014 in that protesters supporting separatist actions are forcibly assembled, men in the DPR and LPR are mobilized at gunpoint, and city residents are intimidated by SBU basements and detained at separatist checkpoints to gather individuals to dig trenches and construct defenses. Such techniques have been employed, and, as it appears, continue to be employed, by occupiers throughout history and across the globe. The sections of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions occupied by armed terrorists are no exception.
The takeover of the consciousness of Ukrainian citizens – residents of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions – and along with it the conflict, will only cease when they begin to reason logically and achieve liberation from the designs imposed by the occupiers.
Multinational Ukraine has never believed, does not believe, and will not believe citizens of Ukraine – residents of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, who, due to some circumstance, found themselves within the ranks of armed terrorists – to be adversaries, solely under one condition – that they relinquish their weapons and never wield them again.
Relinquishing weapons implies bringing peace closer to the lands of Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
This isn’t a “setback” for Donbass and Luhansk – it’s a triumph for the sound judgment of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
UP
