In the information age, wars are not only decided on the battlefield, but also in the arena of public opinion. Here, Russia has a long tradition of using propaganda and what we now call fake news, most notably during the Cold War.

Since Russia first attacked Ukraine in 2014, Russia’s disinformation campaigns have grown and spread. To limit Western support for Ukraine, Moscow’s strategy centres on manipulating public opinion in democratic countries by spreading fake news, silencing the opposition and infiltrating online platforms, think tanks and grassroots organisations. 

Russia also uses hacked data, which is a powerful tool to influence election outcomes or discredit politicians who conflict with Russian interests. The development of AI-based technologies such as deepfakes has also improved Moscow’s disinformation capabilities.

The Kremlin has been systematically targeting democratic institutions worldwide, using state-controlled media outlets such as RT and Sputnik as well as bot armies, troll networks and cyber attacks. The infamous Internet Research Agency, known in Russia as “Kremlinbots” or “Trolls from Olgino”, has been directly linked to such operations, with the 2016 US election being a prime example of how Russia weaponised social media to amplify division.

US intelligence agencies have verified that Russian operatives disrupted the US election by sabotaging the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, and deploying tailored disinformation campaigns on Twitter to increase discord and discourage voter participation.

It led to the scandal known as “Russiagate”, which sparked investigations into Russian interference and potential connections between the campaign of Republican candidate Donald Trump and the Kremlin. Ultimately, no evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia was discovered.

In Poland, the Kremlin aims to discredit the NATO military alliance and the EU by portraying them as corrupt organisations. Furthermore, it claims Poland is following the American political agenda while assigning blame for any economic challenges to Western policies, rather than to Russian aggression on Ukraine. 

In October, the Polish Ministry of Administration and Digitization presented the country’s first-ever digitalisation plan, to last until 2035. The document focuses heavily on security-related issues, especially cooperation within the European Union, to ensure the region’s security in cyberspace and to coordinate civil and military cybersecurity operations.

An additional push to limit the influence of Russia, with its propaganda and hackers, on the upcoming presidential elections shows that Poland is much closer to the frontline than its citizens believe.