Messing with Their Minds: Maskirovka's Cognitive Effects in Crimea and Donbas

Abstract

The Russian military concept known as maskirovka can provide a decisive advantage to Russian forces over an adversary through surprise, deception, and concealment of its intentions. A focal point to maskirovka is creating a distorted reality that serves to confuse, impair, and otherwise degrade adversarial cognitive and decision-making processes. The thesis examines the Russian conception, practical application, and cognitive effects of maskirovka as a case study in the Crimea and Donbas operations 2014-2015. The Ukraine war provides valuable lessons for understanding the Russian way of war, developing counter-maskirovka measures, and increasing the efficacy of friendly and partner force information operations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 28, 2021
Accession Number
AD1154023

Entities

People

  • Miroslav Hofirek

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Electronic Warfare
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Case Studies
  • Cognition
  • Deception
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Information Operations
  • Information Warfare
  • International Relations
  • Military Exercises
  • Military Operations
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Psychology
  • Second World War
  • Security
  • Simulations
  • Students
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • International Relations and European Studies
  • Speech Processing/Speech Recognition.
  • Systems Analysis and Design