“They need to be recognized for their skills”

The world has been impressed by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky communications following the Russian invasion.

The talks have worked: Ukraine has been able to raise an unprecedented amount of aid. In the person of Zelensky has been told (you will switch to another service) played a major role in the fact that European leaders ended up sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing exceptional sanctions on Russia.

Why has the outreach of information in Ukraine been so effective? Various experts explain the main reasons for this story.

The Ukrainians have massaged an information war.

The war is now being waged for the first time in real time on social media, says director of NATO’s Strategic Communications Center of Expertise Jānis Sārts.

According to Sārts, Ukraine has succeeded in massaging the information war: everyone from ordinary people to journalists and analysts is documenting Russia’s atrocities and sharing the suffering and determination of Ukrainians.

– The content produced by Ukrainians is very personal, very human and deeply identical to the citizens of other countries, Sārts tells in a telephone interview about Latvia.

Modern warfare strategy involves filling the internet with messages that refute the opponent’s narratives, says strategist Peter Singer From the New America think tank.

According to Singer, Ukraine has done this effectively and left little room for Russia in the debate.

The President does not need external communications consultants.

However, he surprised everyone at the time of the crisis by showing fearlessness and the ability to choose his words skillfully.

According to Sārts, no one believed until three months ago that Zelenskyi would become a symbol of the country.

– He has been extremely good at communicating and understanding that this war is happening on social media. As an actor, he has a very good sense of the moment and the audience, Sārts describes.

Some of Zelensky’s sayings have been like straight out of a film script, such as the famous response to the alleged U.S. offer to evacuate him from Kiev: “I need ammunition, not a ride.”

Could that exit even have been planned with the Americans?

Sārts replies that he has no knowledge of the matter.

– But I could well imagine it coming from the pen of Zelensky’s staff. They have been in the show business for a long time. They need to be recognized for their skills, just as if this were from the pen of an American consultant, he says.

The strengths of the light-hearted comedians are now emerging.

Zelensky has been criticized for appointing the guys in his comedy group to key positions in the country’s leadership.

The head of the presidential administration is a former film producer-lawyer Andriy Yermakas the chief adviser to the President, screenwriter-producer Serhiy Shefir and as head of the intelligence service, the former director of the production company Ivan Bakanov.

– I wouldn’t want to be in a room with guys who can only produce videos. – Now is the time of war, commented the director of the Ukraine study at the Chatham House Orysia Lutsevich To the New York Times (moving to another service) in December.

Zelensky’s allies have reassured skeptics that comedy backgrounds are an advantage in politics and international relations.

Former Minister of Economy of Ukraine Tymofiy Mylovanov told the magazine that this management thinks “differently” than others.

– They think of dramaturgy: who is the evil, who is the hero, what is the roller coaster of emotions? Mylovanov said.

The Finnish architect of Zelensky’s campaign was Mykhailo Fedorov, who later became the Minister responsible for digital change in Ukraine.

The tactic has worked: Facebook, Youtube, Netflix and Apple have restricted their services in Russia.

Civic activists began to develop their strategic communication skills after the Crimea.

Ukraine really woke up to the need for information skills in 2014, when Russia took over Crimea, started a war in eastern Ukraine and dropped a Malaysian plane.

NGOs were born in the country and began to analyze disinformation, do fact – checking and share information (switch to another service) information on threats to Ukraine to domestic and foreign audiences.

When the country’s administration at the time realized that it would not survive Russia’s information attacks alone, it asked the organizations for help. Their communications experts left to support the government, says a Ukrainian hybrid war expert.

– Ukrainian know-how has emerged from the bottom up, not from the top down, Liubov Tsybulska says in an interview from Ukraine.

He is an adviser to the country’s foreign ministry and the armed forces.

According to Tsybulska, however, the state should coordinate actions even more systematically.

Sārts, the director of the NATO Center, says that the Ukrainian administration has not really been considered a master of strategic communications, but there are a lot of people in the country who are familiar with the matter.

They have been trained in various countries, including the NATO Expertise Center in Riga, Jän says.

– Ukraine has been one of our priorities since our establishment [vuodesta 2014] since, but not the only one, Sārts says.

There are no contradictions in the communication of Ukrainians.

Finland would have a lot to learn from Ukraine, he says Pasi Eronen, Analyst at Conflict Studies Research Center. He worked in Ukraine from 2019 to 2020.

– Ukrainians are a front-line nation in the sense that they feel deeply influenced. Now, triggered by the war, it has blossomed, Eronen says in ‘s telephone interview.

The key lesson about Ukraine is that communication in a crisis cannot be left to the state alone, Eronen says.

Ukraine has seen all influencers and grassroots actors now sharing the same authentic message.

– They know how to speak the right language to Western audiences, both visually and textually, Eronen says.

There are no quarrels, although Russia is specifically trying to bring about fragmentation.

Ukrainians seem to follow good information discipline, says military professor at the National Defense College, who specializes in information warfare Aki-Mauri Huhtinen.

– Systematicity is very clear from the president to civil society and fighters. They have understood that it is worth playing this situation by telling everything that Russia does not say, Huhtinen says in a telephone interview.

Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov has called on citizens to disseminate evidence of the consequences of the Russian attack, especially to Russian users.

– It is important to spread the facts to the Italian, German and Hungarian media, as well as to journalists and decision-makers in European countries. Everyone who speaks the essential languages ​​is our weapon, Reznikov wrote on Facebook (go to another service) February 25.

Reznikov is provided (switch to another service) a pardon for each surrendered Russian soldier and five million rubles, making at the current rate of 39,000 euros. Ukraine has also opened a telephone line to relatives of its prisoners of war, which has been seen as a smart move.

Aggregations can be risks.

According to Aki-Mauri Huhtinen, Ukraine has been active mainly in the field of white propaganda. That means the messages are truthful, but they may be injected with “extra”.

– I think their justification is so strong in the eyes of the western world that they will be forgiven, Huhtinen says.

According to Huhtinen, mass rallies could turn against Ukraine if they go too far or are not controlled.

Jānis Sārts also says that Ukraine “of course” has also fallen into mistakes in its strategic communications.

“But I’m not going to discuss their failures in a situation where they’re trying to defend themselves with great courage,” says Sārts.

You can discuss the topic until 23:00 on Sunday, March 13th.