Crisis communications as the way of implementation of strategic communications in the defense forces of Ukraine.

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of crisis communication problems and the specifics of crisis communication organization in the defense forces of Ukraine, taking into account the experience of localization of crisis situations in the course of repelling and curbing the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine since 2014.

The source of the research was the work in the field of crisis communications, crisis management, interaction of mass media with the authorities during crises, as well as the legal framework on the subject.

In the course of the study, it was found that with the beginning of the Anti-Terrorism operation, and later the operation of the Joint Forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, it turned out that the state system of communication is not ready for modern challenges and threats and needs a radical update. In the midst of a deep socio-political crisis, the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center was created to address the urgent problems of overcoming the effects of the crisis and organizing crisis communications, the efforts of leading Ukrainian experts in the field of international relations, communications and public relations. Subsequently, a regulatory framework was developed that allowed to institutionalize crisis communication measures in the defense forces of Ukraine. In order to increase the effectiveness of strategic and crisis communications organization in the Ukrainian Defense Forces, a Strategic Communications and Monitoring Coordination Section was created in 2017.

It is established that in the course of crisis localization, the entities of crisis communication organizations need to form a communication plan within the framework of the general crisis management plan, to form a special team for crisis management and to use one official to communicate with the media throughout the crisis.

The conclusions proposed determining for the units responsible for crisis communications, and outlining the indicative plan of action of these units in the event of a crisis situation in the defense forces of Ukraine.