KYIV, Ukraine — As Ukraine continues its military struggle against Russia’s invasion, government and military officials are now turning their attention to a new front in the conflict: the battle for cognitive influence. This focus on information and psychological warfare emerged during a recent conference convened in Kyiv by Maria Berlinska, a prominent advocate for drone use in Ukraine’s defense and founder of several nonprofit initiatives supporting the country’s technological resilience.

Berlinska, who first championed drone reconnaissance in 2014 and since helped train thousands of drone operators through her organization Victory Drones, has launched Victory Neurons, a group dedicated to addressing strategic communications, cyber warfare, and other forms of cognitive influence. At the Kyiv gathering last month, she emphasized the pivotal role of public perception, saying wars are ultimately won or lost “not in the trenches, but in people’s heads.”

Officials at the meeting outlined Ukraine’s goals to undermine Russian public support for the war and limit Moscow’s ability to mobilize additional troops. While Ukraine’s drone operations have significantly improved battlefield efficiency—reportedly inflicting a ratio of three to four Russian casualties for every Ukrainian soldier lost—Berlinska acknowledged that should Russia escalate with mass mobilization orders, Ukraine might need to sustain eight to 10 Russian casualties per Ukrainian fatality, a daunting prospect.

Senior Ukrainian officials—including acting intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Yevheniy Khmara and Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov—participated remotely and voiced backing for the initiative. Fedorov highlighted successes in countering Russian electronic warfare and missile attacks, but noted that Ukraine still trails Russia in information warfare, where Moscow maintains a global leadership position. “All that is left is to catch up with them in the information war,” he said.

The concept of cognitive warfare, which includes propaganda, disinformation, hybrid tactics, and psychological operations, is not new. Ukraine’s experts say Russia has been a pioneer in this domain since the Soviet era, employing such methods to influence and destabilize societies. Ahead of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Moscow reportedly executed multiple cyberattacks and information campaigns intended to fracture Ukrainian society and demoralize its military recruitment efforts.

Countering these campaigns remains a challenge, experts caution. Serhii Demediuk, head of Ukraine’s Institute of Cyber Warfare Research, noted that attempts to debunk disinformation often inadvertently reinforce it. However, with Western assistance, Ukraine has strengthened its cyber defenses, including migrating critical infrastructure to global cloud services to mitigate hacking attempts.

Ukraine’s Security Service (S.B.U.) plays a key role in defending against Russian information operations and conducting its own. General Khmara stressed the importance of expanding efforts and collaboration, saying, “Success can be achieved only together.”

Demonstrating a shift in attitudes, cultural figures such as Nobel laureate Oleksandra Matiiichuk and author Serhiy Zhdan recently visited S.B.U. headquarters—once a symbol of fear—to engage directly with intelligence personnel, an indication of the broadening societal engagement in cognitive defense.

The Defense Ministry has established a dedicated center for cognitive warfare, aiming to scale operations similarly to the country’s burgeoning defense tech industry. Fedorov highlighted the need for systemic, networked campaigns to seize the initiative and make Russians experience the consequences of the war psychologically.

During discussions, analysts urged Ukraine not to overlook the importance of understanding Russian society and culture. Maria Kucherenko, a strategic intelligence expert, warned that despite widespread rejection of Russian influence among Ukrainians, knowledge of the Russian language and culture is critical for exploiting Moscow’s vulnerabilities through asymmetric tactics.

As the conflict advances, Ukraine’s leadership sees cognitive warfare as a vital complement to military efforts, seeking to weaken opponent morale and fortify the nation’s resilience on and off the battlefield.