In contemporary Russian doctrine, information “is treated as a weapon of strategic reach, Wojciech Kotowicz, PhD, said. “Warsaw’s information security is a system of communicating vessels, connected to the stability of our eastern partners. If we allow disinformation to triumph in Moldova, Poland will become the next, direct target of even more aggressive information campaigns.”

Kotowicz and his colleagues recently completed a project titled The Impact of Russian Disinformation on Shaping Public Opinion in Eastern European Countries – Analysis and Countermeasures. The study examined Russian disinformation campaigns in Moldova and Georgia and proposed strategies to counter them.

“Aware of NATO’s military and economic superiority, Russia has developed sophisticated hybrid warfare strategies in which disinformation and manipulation are important tools,” Kotowicz said. “It is a war that does not require tanks or planes. To achieve strategic goals, all you need is a smartphone, a social media account, and a well-crafted narrative.”

During research in Chișinău, the team observed how Russian campaigns had changed political attitudes within months.

“Older people who had supported European integration for years suddenly began to believe that the European Union allegedly wanted to destroy their traditional values and take away their land. This was not a coincidence; it was the result of a systematic, months-long campaign on social media, on Russian-language television, and through influencers who presented themselves as independent commentators, but were actually part of a coordinated network financed by Moscow,” he said.

Kotowicz described the situation as “war in our minds,” in which perception of reality, beliefs, and trust in democratic institutions become the battlefield.

He cited Moldova’s European integration referendum as an example: “Although the referendum ultimately ended with a victory for the pro-European option, it was a minimal victory, achieved in the face of an unprecedented disinformation campaign and vote-buying. The experts we spoke with estimated that without Russian interference, support for European integration would have been much higher.”

Social media platforms are central to the campaigns, he said. “Social media, which were intended to be a tool for democratisation and freedom of speech, have become a weapon in the hands of authoritarian regimes. The algorithms of platforms like Facebook, X, and TikTok, designed to maximise user engagement, unwittingly facilitate the spread of disinformation, because controversial and emotional content generates more interactions than reliable information.”

Kotowicz said Russian disinformation campaigns continue to evolve. “In 2026 we are seeing a new wave related to the energy crisis in Europe, with coordinated social media campaigns suggesting that sanctions against Russia harm Europe more than Russia, and that European leaders are deliberately impoverishing their own societies. These narratives, although easily refuted by facts, spread virally, reaching millions of users,” he said.

He warned that the threat is likely to intensify. “We should be prepared for Russian disinformation to utilize increasingly advanced technologies and adapt to our defence mechanisms,” Kotowicz said.

PAP - Science in Poland, Anna Mikołajczyk-Kłębek (PAP)

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