01/20/2025
The aggressor country Russia offers “tasty” contracts to its army soldiers and at the same time tries to disrupt mobilization in Ukraine. The greatest danger is posed by the aggressor’s actions in the information field. The enemy tries to convince Ukrainians that being in the Defense Forces is associated with a multitude of problems and risks, starting with a bad commander and ending with a high probability of being captured or killed. As a result, a negative perception of the Ukrainian army as such is formed. The situation is also worsened by the fact that negative examples are “replicated” by the media, while positive ones remain out of the picture.
At the same time, the willingness of Ukrainians to defend their homeland still remains at a high level. Recent studies have shown an interesting phenomenon: the majority of those liable for military service do not seek to evade service, but simply wait for their “turn” to join the ranks of Ukraine’s defenders. In order to increase the motivation of those liable for military service, it is necessary to actively work in the information field. It is also extremely important that the state, together with local authorities, create more attractive conditions for defenders and their families. And, finally, another big and not yet fully studied topic is Ukrainian women in the army. This is truly a colossal resource.
This was told in an exclusive interview with OBOZ.UA by Olesya Horyainova, co-founder of the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation, coordinator of the platform for supporting the involvement of civilians in the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine .
– How can you assess the current state of readiness of Ukrainians to join the Defense Forces compared to the state before the start of the full-scale invasion? Can we talk about an avalanche-like decrease in this indicator?
– According to Gallup International, as of the end of 2023, 62% of Ukrainians said they were ready to fight for their country. This is a great indicator, the highest among European countries. Citizens of Western European countries are the least ready to fight. We hear about this from our friends from North America and Europe – they understand that if a war starts against their country, it will be very difficult for them to mobilize the population, as we, Ukrainians, have managed to do.
At the same time, we understand that a large-scale war has been going on for almost three years, and many factors are working against this indicator. One of them is fatigue, the second is Russia’s information influence, which is significant. The Russians have set themselves the main task in the information sphere to disrupt our mobilization. Unlike Russia, which can offer a nice “tasty” contract for several million rubles, which a man from the hinterland has never seen. But it’s different with us. This war is righteous, and people are going to defend their country.
It is difficult to compete with the amount of resources that Russia is investing in disinformation campaigns. Unfortunately, it has a significant impact.
Negative incidents that occur in the army are replicated in the media, on social networks and spread. This is an absolutely normal process. People are more receptive to negative information because they feel that it is something important for preserving their own lives. Unfortunately, this is actively used by both those who want to catch the hype and Russia. This gives the impression that everything is bad in the army, that you will definitely die, get maimed or you will definitely be taken prisoner. This is reinforced by the general negative information background, the mood of “everything is lost.”
We cannot say that people do not want to go to serve and that this is an absolutely mass phenomenon. This is not so. What was a revelation for us was that people in many ways seem to be waiting for their turn. They say, my turn has come – I went to serve.
– You mentioned Russia’s powerful information influence on disrupting mobilization in Ukraine. But such influence should be minimized by blocking access to Russian media and social networks, right? Why does this influence remain powerful? Through what information channels is the enemy working today?
– In fact, Russians work everywhere. This is what we encounter when we communicate with our Western partners about how to combat Russian disinformation, when RT and Sputnik were closed in these countries. But it doesn’t work at all. Russians know how to adapt very quickly. As soon as artificial intelligence appeared, they were the first in the world to be able to screw it into bot farms. Moreover, such structures worked in them very massively and very successfully for decades. With this work, purely in comments, purely in social networks, they were able to influence many social processes.
With the budgets that Russia allocates for these information campaigns – which are billions per year – they can afford it and they do it. In particular, in 2025, Russia’s spending on propaganda media will increase by 13% (that’s over $1.4 billion).
Regarding Ukraine. When Russian social networks, Medvedchuk’s channels were closed, then we saw an effect that lasted for a certain period of time. But we have social networks where those people are, we have the very popular Telegram, TikTok, Facebook. There are ways to spread information that later turns out to be disinformation. Nothing has changed for them, they have simply regrouped, they still work on social networks and replicate what they need. The main goal is to maximize demoralization and fear among people.
– You mentioned the really large material support of the occupation army. Unfortunately, it is not so large here. In your opinion, how important is the material support factor? What other factors play a big role?
– It is important to understand the fundamental difference between the Ukrainian war and the Russian war and between motivation. The Russians learned the lessons of Afghanistan, where they sent conscripts, and received public discontent. The ideological justification of a war that is not theirs, that is an invasion, is not enough for a person to simply go and die and for it not to upset society. Therefore, they found a solution in the material dimension. So that a man would be motivated from all sides. So that a woman would motivate him. We have seen many videos in which women say: “I sent my son to the “SVO”, he died there, I got money and I live with another lover.” We have seen mothers who were very happy when they sent their sons to the “SVO” and then received a “Lada-Kalina”. That is, it is a completely different world and a completely different motivation. In fact, it is negotiable.
As for Ukraine, it is obvious that military service is just work. You have to get paid for it. Financial motivation also takes into account the fact that in many cases a person cannot be with his family all the time. So, this plays a certain social role, because money must be earned in any case. But financial motivation is not the key.
However, in this matter we cannot be guided by what a serviceman or a person who will soon become one says, because in Ukraine we understand the meaning of this war differently. People go to serve for ideological reasons, to protect their home, their family, to avoid the occupation of some territory and all of Ukraine. Therefore, a Ukrainian serviceman should be the most provided for, and not only by the state, but also by his municipality.
He and his family should understand that they will be taken care of, that they will have benefits for most of the things they need for life, that their child will be fed free of charge at school, that they, for example, will receive a favorable loan for an apartment, which they will be able to repay without any problems and get their own housing, that they will be able to buy a car and also receive some kind of benefit for this. That is, this should be cooperation between the state and the local municipality. This needs to be taken to an even higher level, because a military person is a person without whom nothing would be here, there would be no peaceful city. Every military family should understand that this is appreciated, they should feel safe.
– Women in the army. In your opinion, how large is this resource? Can certain personnel issues be closed by involving more women in the army?
– Absolutely. It’s not that women don’t feel a duty to defend the state. The issue is that they are held back by certain social factors, such as children at home.
Women are a huge untapped human resource that could be attracted, because they, just like men, feel that it is theirs. We saw the incredible story of Natalia Grabarchuk , who shot down an enemy missile. Even before the start of the full-scale invasion, in 2021, the woman voluntarily joined the defense of the state. And her motivation is very indicative. At the award ceremony, she said: “Our children, our homes, are behind us, we must protect them.”
Women need to be described in better terms that they can join. This is what our project is aimed at, this is what we are currently doing in terms of recruiting – maximum coverage of information about what terms, where, what vacancies are, where you can find your place. For example, for women with children there are staff positions in military units in every city. You can go into military service, sign a contract and work just like in a regular job – in the morning to work, in the evening from work, to the children, plus weekends.
That is, there are opportunities, there are positions. I know many female servicemen in both combat and non-combat positions, and I don’t even want to say the phrase “no worse than any.” Our women are organized and trained. We understand exactly what they can do.
“The enemy tries to convince Ukrainians that being in the Defense Forces is associated with a multitude of problems and risks, starting with a bad commander and ending with a high probability of being captured or killed. As a result, a negative perception of the Ukrainian army as such is formed. The situation is also worsened by the fact that negative examples are “replicated” by the media, while positive ones remain out of the picture.”
The western press often has been too eager to pick up and propagate mafia “facts” and “figures” without checking on them. This doesn’t help Ukraine, the Ukrainians, nor their own people.
Europe should send back all military-aged Ukrainian males, unless they are single parents or have other real reasons to remain.
The Ukrainians have suffered from key personnel shortages for a long time and it simply must be addressed.
When the U.K. donated 14 (a paltry amount I know, but actually 5% of the U.K.’s tank resources) Challenger tanks, a batch of Ukrainian tankers were sent to the U.K. for training. British army instructors were astonished to find men in their 70’s on the course. Casting no aspersions on these brave men, it’s not ideal when your best men are past retirement age.
Ukraine must now do as the U.K. did in 1940 and have 3.5 million men (and women) under arms. That is the level needed to drive off the vermin and keep it orc-free.
That is why Ukraine needs ALL that $300 billion of sequestered putinaZi cash. These fighters will need big salaries and big healthcare/pension packages.
Indeed, scradge, when I was in Ukraine, I saw virtually masses of young men between 18 and 35, who were not in uniform. I admit that it’s a mystery to me as to why this issue is such a sticky one in Ukraine,
In WW2 in Britain, a list was drawn up, known as “protected professions.” These people, eg medics, arms manufacturing employees, police, food production, engineering etc, were exempt from call-up. Everyone else had to make themselves available.
The UK was fighting alone on multiple fronts, so the logistics were immense. (Another profession in high demand in Ukraine right now).
Ukraine can and simply must do the same thing.
It seems likely that Trumpkov will halt or drastically reduce Ukraine aid.