Cardinal changes in Ukraine's media policy regarding foreign countries are necessary.

Ukraine is losing the information war against Russia

Ukraine is on the brink of losing the information war against Russia. This could negatively affect the end of the conflict with Russia and lead to traumatic consequences for the Ukrainian people. Russia successfully conducts an information campaign worldwide.

Russian embassies have become centers of information warfare against Ukraine in all countries where they are present. They have taken over all former Soviet embassies and have an information monopoly in countries where there is no Ukrainian embassy.

Ukraine faces a problem with a low level of information activity, even in countries where there are Ukrainian diplomatic representations. Ukraine is limited to official events, such as exhibitions and cultural activities, which cannot withstand the information war. In an information war, one must constantly engage in information battles with the opponent.

Ukrainian diplomatic representations do not realize this problem, which is why Russian propaganda works successfully. Russia reacts immediately to informational breakthroughs and counters all negative materials. In Moscow, there are also information centers of Russian special services that form information pools for foreign countries.

Over the years, Russian special services have been bribing journalists and experts to cooperate. These connections last for a long Time and involve unobtrusive "encouragements." The Ukrainian side faces the problem of insufficient funding and cannot effectively fight Russian propaganda.

Ukraine should not cede the global information space to Russia as this threatens national interests. Ukraine needs to unite a coordinating body for information work abroad. Currently, this work is mainly carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, special services, Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, and the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. This work can be led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine with experience in information warfare.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs a person with experience in information warfare and an understanding of how media works. This will help improve work in this area. In the media war, one may be injured or even killed. Russian special services can threaten individuals, scare them at work, and discredit them in Ukraine and abroad. Ukraine must be ready for such threats and participate in the information war.