The Russo-Ukrainian War:
Russia's information warfare strategies in comparative perspective

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This conference aims to closely examine, from a variety of perspectives and viewpoints, the propaganda and disinformation warfare strategies that Russia has been using in Ukraine and other countries to destabilize political and social situations.

February 21 & 22, 2025 in Ottawa and online

Speakers

Carolina Vendil Pallin

Department for Security Policy; FOI Swedish Defence Research Agency

Carolina Vendil Pallin

Department for Security Policy; FOI Swedish Defence Research Agency

Carolina Vendil Pallin heads the Russia Programme at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) as well as its research project on “Strategies in the Cyber Domain.” She is currently focusing on Russian security policy, cyber affairs, and domestic politics. Vendil Pallin holds a PhD from the London School of Economics. Previous positions include Senior Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute for International Affairs (SIIA) and Expert Advisor for the Swedish Defence Commission. She is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences and sits on expert boards for Russia, Ukraine, and the Caucasus Regional Research (RUCARR) at Malmö University and SIIA’s Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies.

Anatoliy Gruzd

Co-Director of the Social Media Lab; Canada Research Chair & Professor, Toronto Metropolitan University

Anatoliy Gruzd

Co-Director of the Social Media Lab; Canada Research Chair & Professor, Toronto Metropolitan University

As a computational social science researcher, Anatoliy Gruzd explores how social media changes the ways in which people and organizations communicate, collaborate, and disseminate (mis)information. His expertise lies in studying online communities and social networks and developing new computational methods and tools to study public discourse on social media in different domains. Gruzd’s innovative approach to studying social media won him recognition as a Canada Research Chair (CRC) Tier 2 in 2015, and he was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists in 2017.

Dominique Arel

Associate Professor and Chair of Ukrainian Studies, University of Ottawa

Dominique Arel

Associate Professor and Chair of Ukrainian Studies, University of Ottawa

Dominique Arel is an Associate Professor and Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa. He is the author (with Jesse Driscoll) of Ukraine’s Unnamed War: Before the Russian Invasion of 2022 (2023) and organizes the Annual Danyliw Research Seminar on Contemporary Ukraine (Chair of Ukrainian Studies) and the ASN World Convention (Columbia University).

Marta Dyczok

Associate Professor in the Departments of History and Political Science, Western University

Marta Dyczok

Associate Professor in the Departments of History and Political Science, Western University

Marta Dyczok is Associate Professor in the Departments of History and Political Science at Western University (London, ON), a Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, and an Adjunct Professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Her doctorate is from Oxford University. Among her recent books are Ukraine not ‘the’ Ukraine (2024), Ukraine’s Euromaidan: Broadcasting through Information Wars with Hromadske Radio (2016), and Ukraine Twenty Years After Independence: Assessments, Perspectives, Challenges (2015). Dyczok’s current research is on war and social media; she also researches mass media, memory, migration, and history, and she regularly provides media commentary.

Nataliia Steblyna

Professor in the Department of Journalism and Social Communication, Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University

Nataliia Steblyna

Professor in the Department of Journalism and Social Communication, Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University

Nataliia is a Professor at Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University in the Department of Journalism and Social Communication. She teaches Journalism Craft, Political Journalism, Graphic Design, and Media Analysis. She also cooperates with the Pylyp Orlyk Institute for Democracy as a media analyst. She is the author of several books, including Digital instruments for Media Analysis; Deconstructors of Truth: How the Russian Opposition Media Covers Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine; and Politics: Digitalization in the Context of Modern World Order Transformation.

Viktoriia Romaniuk

Director of the Mohyla School of Journalism at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Viktoriia Romaniuk

Director of the Mohyla School of Journalism at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Viktoriia Romaniuk is a communications professional and educator with extensive experience in academia, civil society, and journalism. She currently serves as the Director of the Mohyla School of Journalism at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, where she also teaches. Viktoriia chairs the UNESCO IFAP Working Group on Information Ethics and is a visiting professor at UC3M (Madrid, Spain), actively engaging in teaching and participating in academic research projects. Viktoriia is the Deputy Chief Editor of StopFake, a fact-checking organization dedicated to combating propaganda and disinformation in the media. She has spoken at numerous conferences and has authored or co-authored multiple publications in respected academic journals.

Roman Osadchuk

Resident fellow, Digital Forensic Research Lab; Senior lecturer, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Roman Osadchuk

Resident fellow, Digital Forensic Research Lab; Senior lecturer, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Roman Osadchuk is a Resident Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab with over five years of experience, where his research focuses on disinformation in Ukraine and neighboring countries. He is the author of multiple investigations on disinformation, influence campaigns, and computational propaganda, which uncover the tactics and techniques of malign actors. He is also a Ph.D. student and a senior lecturer at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, where he teaches bachelor's and master's courses on propaganda effects and open-source investigations.

Sarah Oates

Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland

Sarah Oates

Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland

Dr. Sarah Oates is Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park (USA). A scholar in the field of political communication and democratization, a major theme in her work is the way in which the media can support or subvert democracy in places as diverse as Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Serhy Yekelchyk

Professor in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, University of Victoria

Serhy Yekelchyk

Professor in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, University of Victoria

Dr. Serhy Yekelchyk received his BA from Kyiv University and an MA from the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Following a research fellowship in Australia in 1993–94, he came to Canada in 1995 to pursue a Ph.D. in Russian and Eastern European History at the University of Alberta. His dissertation analyzed representations of the past in Stalinist culture, with special emphasis on Soviet Ukraine. His book Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation was the first historical survey to include the 2004 Orange Revolution and has since been translated into five languages. Dr. Yekelchuk contributes articles to various printed and online journals, including The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo News, OUPblog, POLITICO, The Times Literary Supplement, RealClear World, RealClear History, and ThePioneer Briefing.

James Gatica Matheson

Journalist & Foreign Correspondent

James Gatica Matheson

Journalist & Foreign Correspondent

James Gatica Matheson is a Chilean journalist based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He holds an MA in International Journalism from Cardiff University and a Diploma in International Studies from Universidad de Chile. Over the past decade, James has worked as a foreign correspondent, reporting global news for Chile's TVN, Ex-Ante, ADN Radio, and Canal 13, while also collaborating with BBC News. Recently, he has covered major events such as the Russo-Ukrainian war, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the 2023 Argentine election, the 2022 Brazilian election, and the Coronation of King Charles III. James is a member of the Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI), a Chevening Alumni Chile member, and currently serves as a Communications Consultant for the World Bank Group.

Adam Zivo

Investigative Journalist, The National Post

Adam Zivo

Investigative Journalist, The National Post

Adam Zivo is an investigative journalist, best known for his weekly columns in the National Post. He relocated to Ukraine at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion and has since written over one hundred articles about the conflict, one of which was nominated for a 2023 National Newspaper Award. Zivo has spoken extensively about Ukraine on radio stations throughout Canada and testified in parliament about the effects of Russian disinformation. He currently splits his time between Toronto and Odesa.

Philip Mai

Co-director of the Social Media Lab, Toronto Metropolitan University

Philip Mai

Co-director of the Social Media Lab, Toronto Metropolitan University

Philip Mai is a Co-director and Senior Researcher of the Social Media Lab at the Toronto Metropolitan University. He is also a co-founder of the International Conference on Social Media & Society. In his work at the Social Media Lab, Philip works on technology policy and data-related issues, knowledge mobilization, information diffusion, business and research partnerships, and practical application of social media analytics. His research interests are digital political transparency, dis/misinformation campaigns, online toxicity, conspiracy theories, and extremism. Mai’s research and commentaries have been featured in various national and international media outlets, including Bloomberg Businessweek, CBC The National, The Globe and Mail, The Conversation, and other media outlets.

Ofer Fridman

Senior Lecturer in War Studies, King's College London

Ofer Fridman

Senior Lecturer in War Studies, King's College London

Ofer Fridman is a Senior Lecturer in War Studies at King’s College London. His research focuses on the intersection between Strategic Communications and International Relations, with particular emphasis on the theory of Foreign Interference and Information Manipulations and how it manifests itself in practice. Ofer has authored several academic books and contributed to many policy documents and briefs. He is a frequent speaker on both academic and policy-oriented platforms. His recent books include Deciphering Russia’s Enigma in 15 Questions and 30 Answers (2024), Russian Hybrid Warfare: Resurgence and Politicisation (2022), and Info Ops: From World War One to the Twitter Era (2022).

Oleksandr Pankieiev

Editor-In-Chief, Forum for Ukrainian Studies

Oleksandr Pankieiev

Editor-In-Chief, Forum for Ukrainian Studies

Oleksandr Pankieiev is the editor-in-chief of the Forum for Ukrainian Studies, the online analytical publication of the Contemporary Ukraine Studies Program, and a research coordinator of the Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. His research interests include the history and culture of Steppe (Southern) Ukraine. He is also pursuing research in Ukrainian Canadian diaspora studies, folklore, ethnography, digital humanities, and propaganda. He is the author of three historical sourcebooks and many articles on related topics. He also co-edited the book Meandering in Transition: Thirty Years of Reforms and Identity in Post-Communist Europe, published by Lexington Books in 2021. This year, he edited a collection of the assay and interviews Narratives of the Russo-Ukrainian War: A Look Within and Without, published by Ibidem Press. This book has also been translated into Spanish and published in Argentina this year.

Natalia Khanenko-Friesen

Director of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies

Natalia Khanenko-Friesen

Director of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies

Natalia Khanenko-Friesen serves as the Director of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, the Huculak Chair of Ukrainian Culture and Ethnography at the Kule Folklore Centre, and Professor in the Department of Modern Languages Cultural Studies, all at the University of Alberta. Dr. Khanenko-Friesen is very involved in scholarly initiatives focusing on the war in Ukraine, ethnography, anthropology, Ukrainian Canadian studies, Contemporary Ukraine studies, and diaspora studies.

Agnieszka Legucka

Associate Professor at the Faculty of Finance and International Relations, Vistula Academy of Finance and Economics

Agnieszka Legucka

Associate Professor at the Faculty of Finance and International Relations, Vistula Academy of Finance and Economics

Agnieszka Legucka is associate professor at the Faculty of Finance and International Relations at the Vistula Academy of Finance and Economics in Warsaw, and deputy director in the Strategy Department of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She is a former senior research fellow of the Russia in Eastern Europe Programme at the Polish Institute of International Affairs. Her areas of expertise include Russian foreign and domestic policy, security issues and conflicts in the EU's eastern neighbourhood, EU-Russia and NATO-Russia relations, Russian disinformation, and hybrid threats. Shw holds a D.Litt. in Security Studies, and is also deputy editor-in-chief of Sprawy Międzynarodowe and a Team Europe expert.

RUW

RUW

The Russo-Ukrainian War:
Russia's information warfare strategies in comparative perspective

This conference aims to closely examine, from a variety of perspectives and viewpoints, the propaganda and disinformation warfare strategies that Russia has been using in Ukraine and other countries to destabilize political and social situations.

February 21 & 22, 2025 in Ottawa and online

Speakers

Carolina Vendil Pallin

Anatoliy Gruzd

Dominique Arel

Marta Dyczok

Nataliia Steblyna

Viktoriia Romaniuk

Roman Osadchuk

Sarah Oates

Serhy Yekelchyk

James Gatica Matheson

Adam Zivo

Philip Mai

Ofer Fridman

Oleksandr Pankieiev

Natalia Khanenko-Friesen

Agnieszka Legucka

Sponsors

Useful Links

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The Russo-Ukrainian War: Russia's information warfare strategies in comparative perspective

This conference aims to closely examine, from a variety of perspectives and viewpoints, the propaganda and disinformation warfare strategies that Russia has been using in Ukraine and other countries to destabilize political and social situations.

February 21 & 22, 2025 in Ottawa and online

Speakers

Sponsors

Useful Links

Contact Info

The Russo-Ukrainian War:
Russia's information warfare strategies in comparative perspective