example of post-truth can be considered the
speech of the Kremlin leader. Putin at the Valdai
on October 27, 2022. Using the already long-
studied slogans about the “common peoplehood”
of Russians and Ukrainians, he also came to the
conclusion that Ukraine in its present form was
created by Russia, specifically - V. Lenin. Also,
the authoritarian Kremlin leader juggled
concepts, accused the West of trying to start a
war, and repeatedly mentioned nuclear weapons
(Claessen, 2021). The deception of such rhetoric
was immediately demonstrated by the Ukrainian
side, but the realities of post-truth allow resorting
to such steps. In particular, politicians (unlike
journalists or historians) have no professional
obligation to be objective (Ostrovyy, 2022).
Under post-truth conditions, any words, if not
refuted, can be recognized as at least partially
true, depending on the views of information
consumers (Manolea, 2021). Addressing
different views of the same situation using post-
truth also becomes a kind of defense mechanism
for such politicians.
The post-truth era is shaping new challenges. In
particular, with the development of
digitalization, information is increasingly
transmitted not through traditional media
websites, but through social networks and
messengers, which are extremely nimble in their
news production. For example, the social
networking site Twitter has become an important
and popular medium for publishing news, and its
feature is a brief exchange of messages, and any
Internet user can join the discussion. The
company's corporate policy regulated the
“purity” of the discussion, but after the purchase
of Twitter by American multibillionaire Elon
Musk, the situation may change. The new owner
has repeatedly stated that he plans to review the
policy of blocking users and deleting messages.
Such realities could be used by post-truth
proponents to continue promoting their
narratives. The Kremlin regime, through its paid
customers and ideological adepts, will certainly
exploit such a situation (Ishchuk, 2022).
Taking into account the search for justification of
the war in historical aspects, the strategy of
Ukrainian historical policy should include the
use of mechanisms to counter such attacks.
Worthy of attention, first of all, are several
strategies to counter such attacks on history.
The first way is to actively draw attention to
possible false interpretations of Ukrainian
history, using modern possibilities of
information resistance and the traditional
diplomatic practice of summoning employees of
the diplomatic sphere of foreign countries to get
thorough explanations and preventive
interviews. This course of action is based on the
partial use of the principles of post-truth,
according to the logic of which the decisive and
final is the position of the side in the discussion,
which holds the last word for itself and clearly,
confidently and timely states the attempt to
falsify the historical record. At the same time, it
will allow “internal consumers”, to make sure
that the official point of view will be protected,
and the authorities will not allow the
manipulation of historical data.
Another possibility for countering hybrid
challenges is to completely ignore the statements
of the opposite side. This strategy can be resorted
to when there is an urgent need to throw an event
out of the information field, which is beneficial,
above all, in order not to worsen relations with a
certain country. Obviously, this option is more
suitable for other cases, but not for the protection
of Ukrainian historical politics from the Russian
offensive.
Conclusions
Consequently, the formation of a detailed
Strategy of Ukraine's historical policy against the
background of the Russian-Ukrainian war is an
urgent task since the Russian side justifies its
actions with false historical facts and their
interpretation. In particular, we are talking about
the concepts of “Novorossiya”, “Holy Russia”,
“Russian Orthodoxy” and others, which have no
real historical basis but are designed to justify the
justice of military action. To counteract such
challenges, it is proposed to form a strategic
document important for the Ukrainian historical
sector as follows: to reorganize the Council on
National Unity, to complete decommunization at
all levels, to reform education and science in the
appropriate direction, to educate the common
population, still considered Russian. myths, to
present respect for Ukrainian modern and
historical heroes. This will allow to resist
aggressive challenges, as well as the modern
phenomenon of propaganda - post-truth.
Appealing to the emotional mood and
expectations of the audience allowed the Kremlin
regime to use methods of gross falsification of
history to justify its goals and war. Forming an
adequate response to such a policy can consist of
two ways. We are talking about an active
response to distorted interpretations of Ukrainian
history and feedback in information resources (a
method effective to counter Russian propaganda)
based on the Strategy of the Historical Policy of
Ukraine or ignoring disinformation (if it was
allowed by officials of a third country, Ukrainian