The phenomenon of information aggression in the conditions of Russia`s full-scale war against Ukraine

Abstract

The article analyzes the essential features of informational military aggression that distinguish it from war in the traditional sense. The significant features of informational aggression, which are relevant to the current Ukrainian situation, are singled out, namely: non-force nature, lack of submission to physical laws (no mass, weight, size, temperature, etc.); non-linearity, i.e. disproportionate dependence of cause and effect, violation of the law of conservation of matter and energy, cumulative nature, possibility of avalanche-like growth of information; the possibility of maximum range and speed of distribution, which increases with the development of information technologies; the possibility of perfect cloning; non-localization in time - the consequences of informational aggression and violence can be blurred in time and space; pandemic, mediated nature and secrecy of influence (informational action has a global character and, unlike physical influence, can be completely imperceptible); the virtual nature of the action, the possibility of focusing, selectivity, vulnerability (the fragility of the information world, ease of access, the possibility of hacking information systems). It has been proven that modern military conflicts, in order to ensure their own legitimacy and for the purpose of exerting manipulative influences, qualitatively use the communicative capabilities of modern post-industrial (informational, etc.) society. Information weapons are extremely destructive and affect the most important - the spiritual sphere of society, and can be classified as weapons of mass destruction. In addition, the universality and effectiveness of information weapons makes them rank as absolute weapons available to all organized structures in peacetime and, especially, in wartime.