ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Russia’s understanding and practice of information war. Given that the topic is rather broad, the main focus is on Russia’s information operations in cyberspace. Firstly, the chapter offers an understanding of how Russia perceives offensive cyber operations and who are the actors behind these operations by examining official Russian documents and writings on information war. Secondly, to assess Russia’s current capabilities in cyberspace, the authors explore Russia’s cyber activities in Ukraine from the beginning of the war in Ukraine in 2022 until mid-2023. Such activities were conducted mostly by Russia’s intelligence agencies with the support of non-state actors, including “patriotic” hackers and private corporations. The effects they sought to achieve were both technical and psychological – sometimes to support military operations. While the sophistication levels remain mixed, the modalities have changed and evolved, especially with the advent of generative artificial intelligence. Thus, the chapter concludes that despite the seeming lack of the expected cyber war, Russia remains a formidable threat to NATO countries in cyberspace.
