Ukraine and the problem of explaining everything with psychological operations, 'my colonel'

As has been the case for a long time, wars today are not only fought on the battlefield, but also in another realm: our minds.

The extreme left reactivates against Ukraine the strategy it used against Poland in 1939
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Psychological operations in Western armed forces

To some it may seem absurd, but it is not. Almost all armies have units dedicated to psychological and influence operations, since this is a very important issue that can decisively contribute to the success or failure of a military operation. In Spain, the Spanish Army has the Information Operations Regiment No. 1 (ROI 1), based in Valencia. Until two years ago, the US Air Force even had aircraft dedicated to this type of operations (the EC-130J Commando Solo III).

In 2022, the US Army's 4th Psychological Operations Group showcased its work with a magnificent video, entitled "Ghosts in the machine". In the article I dedicated to that video I explained the purpose of that group as follows: "Their mission is not to kill or wound, but rather to persuade and erode the enemy's morale, even causing them to surrender, while motivating friendly forces."

Russian Psychological Operations: GRU Unit 54777

Russia also has psychological operations units. The most notable of these is GRU Unit 54777 (GRU is the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff). The GRU is best known in Spain today because a left-wing journalist worked for it, which was discovered after the journalist was arrested by Polish counterintelligence and eventually exchanged for Moscow. Putin himself went to greet him at the airport, along with the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the famous KGB.

In May 2021, Meduza, a Russian opposition outlet, revealed the actions of GRU Unit 54777, claiming that "disinformation created by the GRU is spread first to peripheral, lesser-known websites before it’s republished by other, more popular Western resources with pro-Russian leanings." Meduza noted that the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service described Unit 54777 as "the GRU’s chief psy-ops division" and linked it to "an extensive network of organizations and websites that spread disinformation from a single headquarters in Moscow located at 13 Krzhizhanovskogo Street, Building 2."

Is regretting anti-militarism in the West a 'psychological operation'?

I say all this because today a well-known Spanish reserve military officer, whom many refer to with admiration as "my colonel", commented on a news item in the newspaper El Mundo lamenting the damage that anti-militarism has done to society, in relation to the European situation in the face of Russian threats and the need to prepare for possible attacks by Moscow on allied countries. On this issue, this colonel affirms:

"They continue with the gradual strategy.
Little by little, they are making us European citizens aware of the urgency of preparing for a war that they predict is imminent.
A brilliant psychological and influence operation to convince us not only of the need, but also of the "benefits" of a war.
Let's not fall into the trap!
We have to rebel against those who want to lead us to the slaughterhouse.
What the people need are sensible politicians who talk about peace, not war."

Are there Russian psychological operations in the West?

Of course, it is legitimate to think that there are psychological operations to motivate Europeans to defend themselves from a Russian attack. In fact, the worrying thing would be if the governments and armed forces of European countries were not addressing such operations. In the case of Spain, it seems that absolutely nothing is being done, which is not strange if we take into account that part of Sánchez's government is made up of communists determined to keep our defense spending below the operational needs of our Armed Forces and breaching our commitments in this regard as members of NATO.

At the same time, it is also legitimate to think that psychological operations are underway to encourage Europeans to give in to Russia, that is, to surrender before Moscow carries out any attack. Indeed, Putin's threats against the West are intended precisely for that effect. What many pro-Russian propagandists do is amplify that effect, convincing us of the need to avoid a confrontation at all costs, even if that means kneeling before the Moscow bully.

The risk of making people believe that certain messages we receive about the war in Ukraine are the result of psychological operations, referring to those messages that motivate us to prepare for a possible Russian aggression, is that we also have the right to think, and with more reason, that the messages encouraging us to give in to Moscow are also operations of that type.

These operations are not morally comparable

In fact, for those who agree with the Kremlin narrative, spreading the belief that we are being targeted by psychological operations may backfire. After all, motivating people to defend their country is a legitimate and laudable thing to do, something that all governments that sincerely believe that democratic countries should not be bullied by a criminal tyrant like Putin should do. By contrast, an operation to motivate your fellow citizens to cave in to a bully is bordering on treason, at least when this operation involves assets from the country in question.

I think it is time to take a critical look at the messages sent to us by certain "experts" who want to convince us that all those who do not share their opinion are bought by intelligence services, or are manipulated in some way by these services, or are part of a psychological warfare operation.

Let’s turn that accusation around: if they think that, we also have the right to think that certain speeches are remote-controlled from Moscow, and with more reason, since defending us from an external threat is precisely what our intelligence services are for, but getting us to let ourselves be intimidated by a foreign power is precisely what the Russian intelligence services work for, including Unit 54777 of the GRU.

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Foto: Eyepress News.