US Institute of Peace: Kremlin expected to stoke opposition against Poroshenko in run-up to elections

“In the run-up to the 2019 elections, the Kremlin is expected to stoke opposition against President Poroshenkoʼs government and so-called “pro-EU” candidates through cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and other forms of hybrid warfare,” reads the report of the United States Institute of Peace.

As the experts note, the opposition parties, covert agents, biased media outlets, the Russian Orthodox Church, and social media bots will be instrumentalized in an effort to spread rumors and conspiracy theories, and to undermine trust in Ukrainian institutions.

“Russian efforts to shape voter turnout and the election result could escalate to the sabotaging of key industrial or military targets and major cyberattacks that cripple the various levels of election administration. Large attacks could break security systems and compromise the perceived integrity of the election process,” reads the report.

Like Russia, Hungary might try to use its media channels to deepen tensions between the Hungarian and Ukrainian communities in western Ukraine, but it is unlikely that these tensions will escalate to violent conflict, the experts emphasize.

The United States Institute of Peace is a nonpartisan, national institute, founded by Congress and dedicated to the proposition that a world without violent conflict is possible, practical, and essential for U.S. and global security.

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