This article was originally published in French on August 6, 2024, on Info Ops France. At the end of July 2024, a military convoy of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) supported by Russian mercenaries from Africa Corps (formerly Wagner) was eliminated near the town of Tinzaouatine in northern Mali by fighters from the Strategic Framework for the Defence of the People of Azawad (CSP-DPA).

Mental Warfare - Russian-style Cognitive Warfare

Denys Kolesnyk October 5, 2023 7 min read 1335 words
This article was originally published on January 27, 2023, on Info Ops France. In March 2021, Andrei Ilnitski, advisor to the Russian Defense Minister, declared that “the West, led by the United States, has unleashed a Mental Warfare against Russia, the consequences of which will manifest themselves at least a generation later”.

Discursus de bello Moscovitico

Denys Kolesnyk May 20, 2022 3 min read 638 words
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It was considered an unlikely event given several factors, including the insufficient Russian troops amassed at the Ukrainian border.

Is Information Confrontation a new Russian concept?

Denys Kolesnyk October 21, 2021 5 min read 963 words
With the publication of Russia’s new National Security Strategy (NSS) last June, some Western experts began talking about “informational confrontation”. In particular, Michel Duclos of the Institut Montaigne published an article entitled “Russia’s National Security Strategy 2021: time for informational confrontation”, while Sergey Sukhankin of the Jamestown Foundation discussed information confrontation in the context of the use of the Russian private military company Wagner.

Russia adopts a new National Security Strategy

Denys Kolesnyk July 16, 2021 3 min read 630 words
After around a year and a half of work on Russia’s new National Security Strategy (NSS), the process was finally completed on June 2 with the publication of Decree No.

On Reflexive Control

Denys Kolesnyk November 26, 2019 6 min read 1162 words
In democracies, public opinion lies at the very heart of how society functions and is a factor that influences decision-making by the authorities.

Vladislav Surkov on "Putin's long state"

Denys Kolesnyk February 17, 2019 3 min read 485 words
A few days ago, Vladislav Surkov, the man behind the “power vertical” and “sovereign democracy” concept of Vladimir Putin’s first presidential term, published an opinion piece entitled “Putin’s long state”.