Expert: Ukraine should lead coalition to counter Russia’s cognitive warfare

This was stated by Peter Pomerantsev, a senior research fellow at Johns Hopkins University, during his speech at the Kyiv Stratcom Forum 2026, according to a Ukrinform correspondent.

The researcher answered in the affirmative when asked about the possibility of Western democracies joining forces in the information and cognitive spheres and creating a corresponding coalition.

“We simply have no choice. The front line isn’t moving much right now, and we can already see how much of the enemy’s energy is being directed toward cognitive warfare—it’s influencing Ukraine, the West, Trump’s mind, and its own people. If and when there is a pause in the war, everything will shift to the information space, and we need to prepare for this now,” said Pomerantsev.

He recalled that during the “Cold War,” the United States played the role of the “backbone” and “driving force” in the information war, implementing a whole series of large-scale programs.

According to Pomerantsev, the U.S. will no longer play such a leading role, so the question arises as to who exactly will counter Russia in the information space in Ukraine, the Caucasus, and Central Europe.

In his view, Western Europe is “more of a cultural and philosophical idea,” so this role should fall primarily to Ukraine. Additionally, a coalition of individual states is already taking shape, including the “Nordic Six,” the United Kingdom, and several others.

“We already need to start creating institutions, sources of influence, and developing technologies,” the scholar is convinced.

As reported by Ukrinform, the European Union is already aware that Russian operations involving information manipulation and foreign interference are taking on the characteristics of industrialization, and is moving to take offensive countermeasures.

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