Evolution of Strategic Communications in Ukraine’s Security and Defense Sector as a Tool for Countering Information Threats
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31558/2519-2949.2025.3.13Keywords:
strategic communications, information security, countering disinformation, public diplomacy, security and defense sector, Ukraine, hybrid warfareAbstract
The study examines the development and evolution of strategic communications (StratCom) in Ukraine’s security and defense sector from 2014 to 2025 as a tool for countering information threats. Based on institutional-legal, comparative, and communicative-strategic analysis, it traces the transition from reactive information practices to a systemic model of government communications focused on trust, transparency, coordination, and multichannel engagement. Three waves of development are identified: 1) 2014–2016 — the impetus from the Russian Federation’s hybrid aggression and the first institutional decisions; 2) 2017–2021 — consolidation of StratCom principles in doctrinal and sectoral strategies, capacity building; 3) 2022–2025 — wartime transformation: synchronization of interagency messaging, rapid debunking of disinformation, engagement with an international strategic audience, public diplomacy, and the involvement of digital communities and platforms. The study demonstrates that the effectiveness of Ukraine’s StratCom has increased proportionally to institutional maturity (establishment of disinformation counteraction and strategic communications centers) and the government’s ability to work with OSINT, fact-checking, and visual narratives. Practical recommendations are formulated for further institutional consolidation, improvement of the legal framework, risk communication ethics, and international cooperation. Institutional innovations (CPS, CSCIB), doctrinal frameworks (Information Security Doctrine, Cybersecurity Strategy) and international partnerships (NATO StratCom COE) have created a holistic “communication security contour”. Further progress depends on the codification of terms, crisis communication SOPs, personnel strengthening and deepening of platform alliances. The Ukrainian case proves: in hybrid warfare, strategic communications are not an “appendix” to politics, but the core of the state’s resilience.
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