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Bloody fighting, hybrid war

Three years of war in Ukraine

Programme editor
Veronica Baas
Moderator
Yoeri Albrecht De Balie
Yoeri Albrecht
with support of
NATO
NATO

With the war against Ukraine entering its fourth year, we reflect on the situation in Ukraine and the broader hybrid war that Russia is waging against the West.

On February 24th, it will be three years since Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine. What Russia expected to be a quick victory has turned into a bloody conflict, in which the Russians have already lost more than half a million soldiers, while the Ukrainians continue to hold their ground – albeit pushed onto the defensive.

Meanwhile, the hybrid war that Russia is waging against the rest of Europe is becoming increasingly visible: ships sailing under foreign flags destroying critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, disinformation sowing chaos during elections in Moldova, and secret agents preparing (so far foiled) attacks on European airplanes and citizens. The conflict with Russia intensifies, but are we fully aware of the threat when only Ukrainians are doing the actual fighting?

Tonight, we pause to reflect on the situation on the ground in Ukraine and examine the broader European context. What challenges lie ahead for both Ukraine and Europe in the coming period? How are these challenges affected by the growing momentum of radical right parties in the West? And is disinformation from the Kremlin being given free rein now that Meta and X have removed their fact-checkers?

Information Wars: about this series

With this three-part programme series, which is partially funded by a Public Diplomacy Grant from NATO, we want to provide in-depth analysis of current affairs and facilitate nuanced debate, thus making complex material accessible.  Russian-Western relations are shaped by war, in the broadest sense of the word. What are the consequences of the hybrid forms of warfare? Such as cyber- and psychological warfare, and economic sanctions.

In order to understand the current state of affairs, the Information Wars series will focus on the larger historical, societal and cultural context of the relations between Ukraine and NATO member states on the one hand, and Russia on the other hand.

About the speakers:

Jean Charles Ellermann-Kingombe is Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid, and Cyber. In this capacity, he is the Secretary General’s primary advisor on innovation within the alliance, and on all issues relating to technological challenges, cyber defence and hybrid threats.

Pekka Kallioniemi (PhD) is a Finnish expert on social media and disinformation. He works at Tampere University. Besides researching state-of-the-art technologies, he’s also studied Russian online information operations and disinformation. Kallioniemi has published the popular “vatnik soup” series on X. Since January 2023, he’s worked as a columnist for the British newspaper Byline Times.


Speakers

Jean Charles Ellermann-KingombeNATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid, and Cyber
Serhii ProkopenkoHead of Operations, National Cybersecurity Coordination Center Ukraine (via zoom)
Kira LebedienkoCybersecurity and disinformation expert
Pekka KallioniemiSocial media en disinformation expert
Janthe Van SchaikCenter for Influence and Disinformation Research at OSINT for Ukraine

Live music

Galyna BilychViolinist National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
Mykhailo BilychViolinist Chamber Ensemble Kyiv
Andriy VasinPianist Chamber Ensemble Kyiv
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