The Direction Of The Russia-Ukraine Dispute Will Be Determined Through The Information War

JAKARTA - In the book "The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption" Volume I (2022), information expert Roger Spitz reminds that whatever his name is, be it information, misinformation, or disinformation, all of that is drowning humans.

It must be admitted that with the emergence of the internet since the 20th century and its use increasingly spread in the 21st century, various information is easier for everyone to obtain, even to say that all of these things are now abundant.

But unfortunately, the abundance of this information is not always a good thing because a lot of this information can be called hoaxes or fake news, and not a few people are trapped in believing in it.

With the abundance of information, it is not surprising that the think tank from the United States, Rand Corporation, in an article on its official website entitled "Information Warfare and the Changing Face War", emphasizes the growing importance of information warfare at this time.

According to the article, the growing interest of policy makers and observers in the defense sector with information warfare is the result of the information revolution, which is supported by the development of cyberspace, microcomputers, and various advances in information technology.

For this reason, currently, information warfare such as via the internet is increasingly becoming an absolute necessity that must really be considered by any government in order to increase the defense of a country, especially if the country is involved in conflict.

Likewise with the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is of global concern, especially after Russia invaded Ukraine since February 2022, or more than a year ago.

The war of information on both sides is also not only confined between Russia and Ukraine, but also involves confrontations between various other countries.

For example, a number of reports state that the United States had accused a Russian ship of taking weapons from a marine base near Cape Town, South Africa, late last year.

The US Ambassador to South Africa (Afsel)bargety on Thursday (11/5), as quoted by Reuters, believes that a Russian submarine that is being sanctioned by the US, took weapons from a Simon's Town base in South Africa in December 2022.

The statement implies that the arms transfer is not in line with South Africa's neutrality in Russia's fight against Ukraine.

Suddenly, South African Communications Minister Mondli Gungubele, who heads the Conventional Arms Control Committee when the allegations took place, stated Thursday to local media, Radio 702, that it had never approved any shipment of weapons to Russia.

The information presented by Brigey made the ambassador also summoned on Friday (12/5) to meet South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, who expressed the South African government's disapproval of the statement made by the US Ambassador.

The results of the meeting stated that Brigey admitted that he had violated the limits and apologized to the government and all the people of South Africa.

Then, via Twitter, Brigey tweeted that he was grateful to be given the opportunity to talk to the Pandor Foreign Minister to correct any misunderstandings arising from the comments he made.

As to sanctions from the US, Washington had previously warned that countries providing material support to Russia would potentially not be granted access to the US market.

Edward Fishman, a foreign policy expert who has worked on sanctions against Russia during President Obama's administration, stated that the warning was not just a verbal warning.

"This is something the Biden administration has shown through their actions that it can be done, including by imposing sanctions on various companies on the premises, such as China and Turkey," Fishman said.

Of course, information wars such as the above events also often occur between the two main parties in conflict, namely between Russia and Ukraine.

For example, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malar on Friday stated that Ukraine was in control of various parts of the city of Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, and asked Ukrainians to ignore what was referred to as disinformation from the Russian side regarding the situation around Bakhmut.

In line with this, several Russian military blogs also reported on Thursday that the Russian army had penetrated Russia's front line in Bakhmut, but Moscow denied the report and stated that the situation was still under control.

In Telegram's messaging application, Malar wrote that the opposing side displayed themselves in the battle in Bakhmut by praising themselves by telling stories of fabrication success, and creating stories about the Ukrainian military command.

Reuters himself repeatedly stated that the news agency could not verify the situation on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, related to the information war, the Russian court on Thursday also fined Alphabet's Google 3 million Rubles (approximately IDR 575.81 million) for failing to eliminate Youtube videos, which included "wrong information" regarding Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.

Over the past year, Moscow has issued many fines on Western tech companies as part of controlling online internet use in Russia, according to Reuters.

The fines also resulted in Google Alphabet's subsidiary in Russia filing bankruptcy last year after local authorities seized their bank accounts.

Of course, the information war between the West (which supports Ukraine) on the one hand, with Russia and its sympathizers on the other hand, did not only happen recently, but has been going on for a long time.

One example is the incident in September 2022, namely the explosion of the Nord Stream (a pipeline in the Baltic Sea that distributed gas from Russia to European countries), which until now is still unknown who the perpetrators of the explosion were.

The investigations that have been carried out so far by the authorities of a number of countries, such as Denmark and Sweden, have not yet determined who is responsible.

The Russian Embassy in the US on March 29, 2023, accused Washington of trying to stop an international investigation into the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion last year, as quoted by Anadolu.

When asked for comment on the White House's statement on a sufficient national investigation by European countries, the Russian Embassy called it a US attempt to hide behind its allies and destabilize any attempt to reveal the true facts behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream.

The Russian Embassy warned that these countries rejected the joint calls made by Russia, China, and Brazil in the UN Security Council to carry out a thorough international investigation.

As is known, Russia has called for an international investigation led by the United Nations against the "sabotage" to find out who is responsible for the incident. However, Moscow's request did not have support from the UN Security Council.

Meanwhile, based on a report from the Washington Post media on April 3, 2023, a senior European diplomat stated that a number of European and NATO policymakers and officials had agreed in one way, namely not to talk about the Nord Stream.

Leaders saw at least the benefits of digging too deep and finding unpleasant answers, the diplomat continued.

He also echoed the sentiments of some colleagues from other countries who said they preferred not to deal with the possibility that Ukraine or its allies were involved in the attack.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations RObert Wood, as quoted by Reuters, confirmed that the US was not involved at all with the Nord Stream explosion.

In addition, Wood also accused Russia of trying to discredit the investigative work of several countries on this matter and prejudiced prejudices against any conclusions they judged were inconsistent with Russia's predetermined political narrative.

Various narratives, stories, stories, or anything related to the Russian-Ukraine conflict will continue to spread as long as the war continues.

For this reason, various parties, including in Indonesia, must also be careful not to just believe in the various forms of information presented, and really think carefully before deciding to share them with other parties or call them facts.

By not GROWing in the war of information from both opposing parties, it is a step that can now be said to be wise, because it reduces the potential to spread various forms of lies and disinformation in the community.