Russia’s Information Confrontation Doctrine in Practice (2014–Present): Intent, Evolution and Implications

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This paper outlines how Russia has leveraged its information confrontation doctrine (ICD) – encompassing cyber capabilities, propaganda, psychological operations and strategic messaging – to shape both its domestic environment and the international order to serve its long-term goal of great power restoration, which includes a revision of the European security order.

Strategic intent: The ICD serves Russia’s overarching goal of reclaiming its great power status, including revising the European security order on terms that would see the withdrawal of US military presence and commitment from the continent.

 This aspiration guides Russia’s foreign, military and information strategies aimed at reversing post-Cold War geopolitical setbacks and securing its position in a multipolar world order.Integrated multi-domain strategy: Russia’s ICD integrates cyber operations, electronic warfare, psychological warfare and conventional forms of sabotage into a unified strategic framework. It exploits vulnerabilities in digital infrastructure and societal cohesion, blurring the boundaries between peace and war to achieve political objectives below the threshold of conventional conflict.Domestic control and regime stability: 

Russia enforces tight control over its domestic information environment through censorship, surveillance, manipulation of the information infrastructure and suppression of dissent. This control is essential to maintaining regime stability and reinforcing the narrative of external threats to national sovereignty.Regional influence and strategic intimidation: 

Russia systematically employs ICD tools against former Soviet republics and states aspiring to join Western institutions, aiming to intimidate and dissuade alignment. Of particular concern is the accession of neighbouring states to NATO and the European Union, which are perceived as threats to the regime. This has driven Russia to deploy a range of cyber operations, disinformation campaigns and covert political influence efforts to assert its regional influence and counter Western integration.Western destabilisation: 

The Kremlin conducts sustained disinformation and cyber operations to destabilise Western democracies. These operations aim to weaken trust in democratic institutions, erode international cohesion and amplify societal divisions through targeted manipulation of perceptions and narratives.