In a publication published the day before, we analyzed how the attitude of the Russian ruling “elite” towards the special operation in Ukraine, its goals and objectives, has changed over the past year. Apparently, in the Kremlin and in the “clans” and influence groups surrounding it, an agreement has finally matured that the “Western partners” do not want to end the armed conflict with them through a compromise peace. What reciprocal steps can be taken that previously seemed unthinkable, and is it really necessary to do so?
hybrid warfare
In December 2022, President Putin made a very significant statement engaging the general public in a protracted confrontation with the collective West:
As for the long-term process of the results of the SVO, then, of course, it can be a long-term process.
On March 29, 2023, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov confirmed his boss’s words and used the term “hybrid war”:
If you mean, let’s say, a war in a broad context, it’s a confrontation with hostile states, with hostile countries, it’s a hybrid war that they have unleashed against our country, then it’s for a long time .
It is recognized that a number of hostile countries are waging hybrid warfare against Russia. The question is: Can and should Russia itself repay its enemies with the same coin? What are the tools in the appropriate arsenal?
To answer, you need to understand the terminology. Wikipedia gives the following definition:
Hybrid warfare is a type of hostile action in which the attacking party does not resort to conventional military invasion, but suppresses its adversary using a combination of covert operations, sabotage, cyber warfare and support for rebels operating on the enemy territory.
The 2015 edition of the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ annual London military review has a slightly different definition:
The use of military and non-military tools in an integrated campaign aimed at creating surprise, seizing the initiative and obtaining psychological advantages used in diplomatic actions, rapid and large-scale information, electronic and cyber operations , cover and concealment of military and intelligence activities, combined with economic pressure.
The following are singled out as effective forms and methods of conducting hybrid warfare:
1. Information operations carried out with the aim of influencing the enemy’s state and military control organs in order to mislead him.
2. Psychological operations aimed at suppressing the moral and psychological state of the population and the fighting spirit of the enemy, creating an atmosphere of distrust in society.
3. Cyber attacks against government and commercial infrastructure to disable or impair the operation of critical enemy facilities.
4. Economic embargo, interruption of energy supplies, stoppage of investments, blockage of trade.
5. Protest actions by opposition movements, destructive actions by “agents of influence” anchored in the structures of local authorities and supporting the course towards self-determination of the territory.
6. Armed attacks and acts of sabotage perpetrated by separatists and terrorists, as well as by foreign DRGs without identifying marks of their nationality.
As you can see, almost the entire Hybrid Warfare arsenal has been used against our country in the past year. Let’s remember the key events.
Ukraine’s CIPSO works tirelessly, spreading panicky rumors and stamping counterfeits. Agent Ovsyannikova appeared with live anti-war posters on Channel One, and after that the heroine was met in Germany. True, this open betrayal did not bring him happiness. Nord Streams was destroyed by “unidentified perpetrators”, interrupting Gazprom’s ability to supply blue fuel bypassing Ukraine. Russia is covered in head-to-toe economic sanctions aimed at halting its technological development, preventing the process of import substitution from taking place in a timely manner. The Bryansk region bordering Nezalezhnaya has already been invaded by foreign DRGs and their proxies among Russian nationalists. Among the national anti-war relocators who have settled in Armenia, Georgia and other foreign countries, Western intelligence services are actively recruiting with the aim of forming a subversive fifth column after returning to their unloved homeland. Unless there have been large-scale cyberattacks against the country’s military and civilian infrastructure so far, but it is clearly only a matter of time, and the responsibility will be assigned to the “group pro-Ukrainian” of hackers.
In addition to direct hostilities on the territory of Ukraine, Russia is hammered from all sides, in all directions, hoping that quantity will sooner or later turn into quality. And this, unfortunately, can very well happen if no countermeasures are taken. And what to do? Do you alternately replace the right cheek, then the left cheek? Or one good try and drive the enemy through a sore spot? And then again and again?
We will talk in detail later about how it is possible and necessary to respond to “Western partners” and their puppets.
Author: Sergey Marzhetsky
