Fear and Loathing in Luhansk

ABSTRACT

This article is an exploration of Psychological Operations, focusing on both the role which fear plays in Psychological Operations, and how the Russian Federation employed Psychological Operations in the War in Ukraine (2014–2021). A qualitative methodology is used to explore fear as a neurological, psychological and social phenomenon, and how it may be utilised in Psychological Operations. The author finds that Russia’s initial use of Psychological Operations was focused on making tactical gains against the Ukrainian military. Shock tactics, combined with strategic messaging, encouraged mass defections from the Ukrainian army and border guard, significantly degrading the combat effectiveness of Kyiv’s forces, and increasing the likelihood of victory for the Donbass secessionists. The case study is limited in scope to 2014–2021. The paper can thus be read as both an analysis of one element of Russia’s shaping phase prior to the 2022 invasion, and/or a framework for analysing the current stage of conflict.

KEYWORDS:

• Russia
• Ukraine
• psychological operations
• Donbass
• fear

Acknowledgments

For his translation of Carl von Clausewitz’ On War, I thank Col J J Graham – the text was invaluable to the fusion of military science with psychology.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Report on the Human Rights Situation in Ukraine: 16 November 2019 to 15 February 2020, (Geneva: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2020): 8.

² Hugh Evander Willis, ‘A Definition of Law’, Virginia Law Review, 12, no. 3 (1926): 204–205.

³ Mohammad Zohrabi, ‘Mixed Method Research’, Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3, no. 2 (2013): 256.

⁴ S. Bogdanov, ‘A Randomized-Controlled Trial of Community Based Transdiagnostic Psychotherapy for Veterans and Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine’, Global Mental Health, 8 (2021): 1. ⁵Jos Hornikx, ‘A Review of Experimental Research on the Relative Persuasiveness of Anecdotal, Statistical, Casual, and Expert Evidence’, Studies in Communication Sciences, 5, no. 1 (2005): 214.; Hans Hoeken and Hustinx, Lettica, ‘When is Statistical Evidence Superior to Anecdotal Evidence in Supporting Probability Claims?’, Human Communication Research, 35, no. 4 (2009): 494.

⁵ Carl von Clausewitz, and Graham, J J (transl.), On War, (London: Penguin Classics, 1982): 185.

⁶ Ministry of Defence, Allied Joint Doctrine for Psychological Operations¸ (Brussels: NATO Standardisation Office, 2015): 1.1.

⁷ Lev Yudovich, ‘Indoctrination of Hate’, in Frank L. Goldstein, and Findley Jr., Benjamin F., Psychological Operations, (Maxwell Air Force Base: Air University Press, 1996): 197.

⁸ Ibid., 1.3.

⁹ Peter J. Smyczek, ‘Regulating the Battlefield of the Future: The Legal Limitations on the Conduct of Psychological Operations (PSYOP) under Public International Law’, Air Force Law Review, 57 (2005): 214.

¹⁰ Mark Zelcer et al., ‘Military Psychological Operations: Ethics and Policy Considerations’, in David Boonin (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Philosophy and Public Policy, (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018): 112.

¹¹ Peter J. Smyczek, ‘Regulating the Battlefield of the Future: The Legal Limitations on the Conduct of Psychological Operations (PSYOP) under Public International Law’, Air Force Law Review, 57 (2005): 216.

¹² Benjamin F. Findley Jr., ‘Blending Military and Civilian PSYOP Paradigms’, in Frank L. Goldstein, and Findley Jr., Benjamin F., Psychological Operations, (Maxwell Air Force Base: Air University Press, 1996): 54.

¹³ Ashley C. Nicolas, ‘Taming the Trolls: The Need for an International Legal Framework to Regulate State Use of Disinformation on Social Media’, Georgetown Law Journal, 107 (2018): 41.

¹⁴ Frank L. Goldstein and Jacobowitz, Daniel W., ‘Psychological Operations: An Introduction’, in Frank L. Goldstein, and Findley Jr., Benjamin F., Psychological Operations, (Maxwell Air Force Base: Air University Press, 1996): 10.

¹⁵ Robert A. C. Ruiter et al., ‘Scary warnings and rational precautions: A review of the psychology of fear appeals’, Psychology and Health, 16, no. 6 (2001): 614.

¹⁶ Arne Öhman, ‘Of Snakes and Faces: An Evolutionary Perspective on the Psychology of Fear’, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology¸ 50 (2009): 543.

¹⁷ Kasia Kaslowska et al., ‘Fear and the Defense Cascade: Clinical Implications and Management’, Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 23, no. 4 (2015): 264.

¹⁸ Ibid., 267.

¹⁹ Hope Ferdowsian, and Merskin, Debra, ‘Parallels in Sources of Trauma, Pain, Distress, and Suffering in Humans and Nonhuman Animals’, Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 13, no. 4 (2012): 453.

²⁰ Kasia Kaslowska et al., ‘Fear and the Defense Cascade: Clinical Implications and Management’, Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 23, no. 4 (2015): 272.

²¹ David L. Altheide, ‘The News Media, the Problem Frame, and the Production of Fear’, The Sociological Quarterly, 38, no. 4 (1997): 649.

²² Ibid., 649.

²³ Ibid., 661.; Joseph A. Schafer et al., ‘Fear of crime and criminal victimization: Gender-based contrasts’, Journal of Criminal Justice, 34, no. 3 (2006): 287.

²⁴ David L. Altheide, ‘The News Media, the Problem Frame, and the Production of Fear’, The Sociological Quarterly, 38, no. 4 (1997): 664–665.

²⁵ Carl von Clausewitz, and Graham, J J (transl.), On War, (London: Penguin Classics, 1982): 251.

²⁶ Frank L. Goldstein and Jacobowitz, Daniel W., ‘Psychological Operations: An Introduction’, in Frank L. Goldstein, and Findley Jr., Benjamin F., Psychological Operations, (Maxwell Air Force Base: Air University Press, 1996): 5.

²⁷ Ibid., 11–12.

²⁸ Plutarch and Perrin, Bernadotte (transl.), Lives: Alexander, (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1919): 401.

²⁹ Peter J. Smyczek, ‘Regulating the Battlefield of the Future: The Legal Limitations on the Conduct of Psychological Operations (PSYOP) under Public International Law’, Air Force Law Review, 57 (2005): 219–220.

³⁰ Carl von Clausewitz, and Graham, J J (transl.), On War, (London: Penguin Classics, 1982): 336.

³¹ Mark Zelcer et al., ‘Military Psychological Operations: Ethics and Policy Considerations’, in David Boonin (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Philosophy and Public Policy, (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018): 112.

³² Ashley C. Nicolas, ‘Taming the Trolls: The Need for an International Legal Framework to Regulate State Use of Disinformation on Social Media’, Georgetown Law Journal, 107 (2018): 41.

³³ Frank L. Goldstein and Jacobowitz, Daniel W., ‘Psychological Operations: An Introduction’, in Frank L. Goldstein, and Findley Jr., Benjamin F., Psychological Operations, (Maxwell Air Force Base: Air University Press, 1996): 10.

³⁴ Peter J. Smyczek, ‘Regulating the Battlefield of the Future: The Legal Limitations on the Conduct of Psychological Operations (PSYOP) under Public International Law’, Air Force Law Review, 57 (2005): 218.

³⁵ Ivan Katchanovski, ‘The Separatist War in Donbas: A Violent Break-up of Ukraine?’, European Politics and Society, 17, no. 4 (2016): 479.

³⁶ Maria Snegovaya, ‘Putin’s Information War in Ukraine’, Russia Report I, Institute for the Study of War, 2015, p. 12., http://www.understandingwar.org/report/putins-information-warfare-Ukraine-soviet-origins-russias-hybrid-warfare. Accessed 02/06/2020.; Ralph S. Clem, ‘Clearing the Fog of War: public versus official sources and geopolitical storylines in the Russia-Ukraine conflict’, Eurasian Geography and Economics, 58, no. 6 (2017): 597.

³⁷ Hacking Team, WikiLeaks, ‘Re: Ukraine: Russia’s new art of war’, 2015, WikiLeaks, https://wikileaks.org/hackingteam/emails/emailid/68,437. Accessed 04/06/2020.

³⁸ Samuel Charap and Darden, Keith, ‘Russia and Ukraine’, Survival, 56, no. 2 (214): 8.

³⁹ Roy Allison, ‘Russian “Deniable” Intervention in Ukraine: How and Why Russia Broke the Rules’, Foreign Affairs, 90, no. 6 (2014): 1293.

⁴⁰ Ivan Katchanovski, ‘The Separatist War in Donbas: A Violent Break-up of Ukraine?’, European Politics and Society, 17, no. 4 (2016): 479–480.

⁴¹ Maria Snegovaya, ‘Putin’s Information War in Ukraine’, Russia Report I, Institute for the Study of War, 2015, http://www.understandingwar.org/report/putins-information-warfare-Ukraine-soviet-origins-russias-hybrid-warfare. 7. Accessed 02/06/2020.

⁴² Stephen Blank, Testimony Presented to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, (Washington, DC: Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 2015): 3.

⁴³ Mark Galeotti, ‘The “Gerasimov Doctrine” and Russian Non-Linear War’, In Moscow’s Shadows, 2013, https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/the-gerasimov-doctrine-and-russian-non-linear-war/. Accessed 27/07/2020.

⁴⁴ Mark Galeotti, ‘I’m Sorry for Creating the “Gerasimov Doctrine”’, Foreign Policy, 2018, https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/05/im-sorry-for-creating-the-gerasimov-doctrine/. Accessed 27/07/2020.

⁴⁵ Mary Kaldor, ‘In Defence Of New Wars’, Stability: International Journal Of Security And Development, 2.1 (2013): 12.

⁴⁶ Mark Galeotti, ‘I’m Sorry for Creating the “Gerasimov Doctrine”’, Foreign Policy, 2018, https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/05/im-sorry-for-creating-the-gerasimov-doctrine/. Accessed 27/07/2020.; Roger N. McDermott, ‘Does Russia Have a Gerasimov Doctrine?’, Parameters, 46, no. 1 (2016): 99.

⁴⁷ Ibid., 97.

⁴⁸ The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, Russia, (London: The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, 2020): 9–12.

⁴⁹ Mark Galeotti, Policy Brief: Controlling Chaos: How Russia Manages Its Political War in Europe, (London: European Council on Foreign Relations, 2017): 1.

⁵⁰ Eugene Rumer, The Primakov (Not Gerasimov) Doctrine in Action, (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2019): 1.

⁵¹ Eugene Rumer, The Primakov (Not Gerasimov) Doctrine in Action, (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2019): 1.

⁵² Ibid., 1.

⁵³ Ibid., 2.

⁵⁴ Roy Allison, ‘Russian “Deniable” Intervention in Ukraine: How and Why Russia Broke the Rules’, Foreign Affairs, 90, no. 6 (2014): 1258.

⁵⁵ Maria Snegovaya, ‘Putin’s Information War in Ukraine’, Russia Report I, Institute for the Study of War, 2015, http://www.understandingwar.org/report/putins-information-warfare-Ukraine-soviet-origins-russias-hybrid-warfare. 7. Accessed 02/06/2020.; Igor Sutyagin, ‘Russian Forces in Ukraine’, 2015, RUSI Briefing Papers, https://rusi.org/sites/default/files/201503_bp_russian_forces_in_ukraine.pdf.1. Accessed 08/06/2020.

⁵⁶ Al Jazeera, ‘Russian Forces Launch Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine’, Al Jazeera News, 2022, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/24/putin-orders-military-operations-in-eastern-ukraine-as-un-meets. Accessed 28/06/2022.

⁵⁷ Halya Coynash, ‘Putin hands out flats to turncoats who betrayed Ukraine in Russian-occupied Crimea’, The Ukrainian Weekly, 29 May 2020, http://www.ukrweekly.com/uwwp/putin-hands-out-flats-to-turncoats-who-betrayed-Ukraine-in-russian-occupied-crimea/. Accessed 09/06/2020.

⁵⁸ BBC News, ‘Many Ukraine soldiers cross into Russia amid shelling’, BBC News, 4 August 2014, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28637569. Accessed 09/06/2020.

⁵⁹ Museum of Military History, ‘Memorial Book to the Fallen’, Museum of Military History, 2020, https://memorybook.org.ua/index.htm. Accessed 28/07/2020.

⁶⁰ Ibid., Accessed 28/07/2020.

⁶¹ BBC News, ‘Many Ukraine soldiers cross into Russia amid shelling’, BBC News, 4 August 2014, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28637569. Accessed 09/06/2020.

⁶² Pobesedova Elena Mokrenchuk, ‘72^nd Brigade Commander: “The Army is ready to shoot, but there are other effective ways of waging war”’, DonbassUA, 23 April 2016, https://donbass.ua/news/region/2016/04/23/komandir-72-i-brigady-armija-gotova-streljat-no-est-i-drugie-jeffektivnye-sposoby-vedenija-voiny.html. Accessed 28/07/2020.

⁶³ Lawrence Freedman, ‘Ukraine and the Art of Limited War’, Survival, 56, no. 5 (2014): 16–17.

⁶⁴ Karoun Demirjian, ‘Putin denies Russian troops are in Ukraine, decrees certain deaths secret’, The Washington Post, 28 May 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/putin-denies-russian-troops-are-in-ukraine-decrees-certain-deaths-secret/2015/05/28/9bb15092-0543-11e5-93f4-f24d4af7f97d_story.html. Accessed 06/08/2022.

⁶⁵ Halya Coynash, ‘Putin hands out flats to turncoats who betrayed Ukraine in Russian-occupied Crimea’, The Ukrainian Weekly, 29 May 2020, http://www.ukrweekly.com/uwwp/putin-hands-out-flats-to-turncoats-who-betrayed-Ukraine-in-russian-occupied-crimea/. Accessed 09/06/2020.; Pavel Polityuk, and Zverev, Anton, ‘Why Ukrainian forces gave up Crimea without a fight – and NATO is alert’, Reuters, 24 July 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-Ukraine-crisis-crimea-annexation/why-ukrainian-forces-gave-up-crimea-without-a-fight-and-nato-is-alert-idUSKBN1A90G0. Accessed 09/06/2020.

⁶⁶ Igor Sutyagin, ‘Russian Forces in Ukraine’, 2015, RUSI Briefing Papers, https://rusi.org/sites/default/files/201503_bp_russian_forces_in_Ukraine.pdf. 7–8. Accessed 08/06/2020.

⁶⁷ Ivan Katchanovski, ‘The Separatist War in Donbas: A Violent Break-up of Ukraine?’, European Politics and Society, 17, no. 4 (2016): 481–482.

⁶⁸ Lara Keay, ‘Ukraine War: What happened in Bucha and did Russian soldiers commit war crimes?’, Sky News, 2022, https://news.sky.com/story/Ukraine-war-what-happened-in-bucha-and-did-russian-soldiers-commit-war-crimes-12,582,047. Accessed 28/06/2022; Kate Nicholson and Demianyk, G., ‘Russia Bombs Ukrainian Shopping Centre with 1,000 People Inside’, Huffington Post, 2022, https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/Russia-bomb-ukrainian-shopping-centre-invasion_uk_62b9cf51e4b0c77098bf901f. Accessed 28/06/2022.

⁶⁹ Kasia Kaslowska et al., ‘Fear and the Defense Cascade: Clinical Implications and Management’, Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 23, no. 4 (2015): 273.

⁷⁰ Carl von Clausewitz, and Graham, J J (transl.), On War, (London: Penguin Classics, 1982): 336.

⁷¹ Russian News Agency TASS, ‘16,000 Ukrainian troops defect Donbas with weapons, prosecutor says’, Russian News Agency TASS, 5 October 2015, https://tass.com/world/826,234. Accessed 09/06/2020.

⁷² Peter J. Smyczek, ‘Regulating the Battlefield of the Future: The Legal Limitations on the Conduct of Psychological Operations (PSYOP) under Public International Law’, Air Force Law Review, 57 (2005): 219–220.

⁷³ Sergiy Bogdanov et al., ‘A randomized-controlled trial of community based transdiagnostic psychotherapy for veterans and internally displaced persons in Ukraine’, Global Mental Health, 8 (2021), p. 1.

⁷⁴ Ibid., p. 5.

⁷⁵ Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, ‘Disappearances in Ukraine: “Concerns and challenges in the current context”’, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID = 23,228&LangID = E. Accessed 30/06/2020.

⁷⁶ Human Rights Watch, ‘“You Don’t Exist”: Arbitrary Detentions, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture in Eastern Ukraine’, Human Rights Watch, 2016, https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/07/21/you-dont-exist/arbitrary-detentions-enforced-disappearances-and-torture-eastern. Accessed 30/06/2020.

⁷⁷ Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, ‘Enforce disappearances in Ukraine and disappearances during the war conflict in the east 2014–2018’, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, 2018, http://khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1528704684. Accessed 30/06/2020.

⁷⁸ Human Rights Watch, ‘“You Don’t Exist”: Arbitrary Detentions, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture in Eastern Ukraine’, Human Rights Watch, 2016, https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/07/21/you-dont-exist/arbitrary-detentions-enforced-disappearances-and-torture-eastern. Accessed 30/06/2020.

⁷⁹ Ibid., Accessed 30/06/2020.

⁸⁰ Denis Paré, ‘Mechanisms of Pavlovian Fear Conditioning: Has the Engram Been Located?’, Trends in Neurosciences, 25, no. 9 (2002): 436.

⁸¹ Human Rights Watch, ‘“You Don’t Exist”: Arbitrary Detentions, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture in Eastern Ukraine’, Human Rights Watch, 2016, https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/07/21/you-dont-exist/arbitrary-detentions-enforced-disappearances-and-torture-eastern. Accessed 30/06/2020.

⁸² Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, ‘Disappearances in Ukraine: “Concerns and challenges in the current context”’, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID = 23,228&LangID = E. Accessed 30/06/2020.

⁸³ Igor Sutyagin, ‘Russian Forces in Ukraine’, 2015, RUSI Briefing Papers, https://rusi.org/sites/default/files/201503_bp_russian_forces_in_Ukraine.pdf. 6. Accessed 08/06/2020.

⁸⁴ Christelle Néant, ‘Donbass – Russia and LPR Take Control of Zolotoye and Gorskoye, and Mass Surrender of Ukrainian Soldiers’, Donbass Insider, 2022, https://www.donbass-insider.com/2022/06/25/donbass-Russia-and-lpr-take-control-of-zolotoye-and-gorskoye-and-mass-surrender-of-ukrainian-soldiers/. Accessed 28/06/2022.

⁸⁵ Arthur Bright, ‘Ukrainian military defections boost pro-Russia militia as unrest spreads’, Christian Science Monitor, 16 April 2014, https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/terrorism-security/2014/0416/Ukrainian-military-defections-boost-pro-Russia-militia-as-unrest-spreads. Accessed 09/06, 2020.; Alexander Marquardt, ‘Ukraine’s Offensive Falters as Elite Units defect to Pro-Russia Side’, ABC News, 16 April 2014, https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/04/ukraines-offensive-falters-as-elite-units-defect-to-pro-russia-side. Accessed 09/06/2020.

⁸⁶ Russian News Agency TASS, ‘16,000 Ukrainian troops defect Donbas with weapons, prosecutor says’, Russian News Agency TASS, 5 October 2015, https://tass.com/world/826,234. Accessed 09/06/2020.

⁸⁷ Paolo Rosa and Cuppuleri, A., ‘Dangerous dyads in the post-Soviet space: explaining Russia’s military escalation decisions, 1992–2010’, Italian Political Science Review, 51 (2021): 368.

⁸⁸ Eugene Rumer, The Primakov (Not Gerasimov) Doctrine in Action, (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2019): 3.

⁸⁹ Ivan Katchanovski, ‘The Separatist War in Donbas: A Violent Break-up of Ukraine?’, European Politics and Society, 17, no. 4 (2016): 474.

⁹⁰ Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Conflict-related civilian casualties in Ukraine, (Geneva: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2022): 1.

⁹¹ Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, ‘Ukraine: Civilian casualty update 27 June 2022’, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2022, https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2022/06/Ukraine-civilian-casualty-update-27 June 2022. Accessed 04/07/2022; Interfax-Ukraine, ‘National Police Chief: 1,200 bodies of dead Ukrainians not yet identified’, Interfax-Ukraine, 2022, https://ua.interfax.com.ua/news/general/838772.html. Accessed 04/07/2022; Alesya Marokhovskaya and Dolinina, I., ‘War in numbers’, IStories, 2022, https://istories.media/reportages/2022/05/16/voina-v-tsifrakh/. Accessed 04/07/2022.

⁹² Lev Yudovich, ‘Indoctrination of Hate’, in Frank L. Goldstein, and Findley Jr., Benjamin F., Psychological Operations, (Maxwell Air Force Base: Air University Press, 1996): 197.

⁹³ Maria Snegovaya, ‘Putin’s Information War in Ukraine’, Russia Report I, Institute for the Study of War, 2015, http://www.understandingwar.org/report/putins-information-warfare-Ukraine-soviet-origins-russias-hybrid-warfare. 7. Accessed 02/06/2020; Sean Monaghan, ‘Countering Hybrid Warfare: So What for the Future Joint Force’, PRISM, 8, no. 2, (2019): 84–85.

⁹⁴ Rosenau, William, and Long, Austin, The Phoenix Program and Contemporary Counter-insurgency, (Fort Belvoir: Defense Technical Information Center, 2009): 13.; Mark Zelcer et al., ‘Military Psychological Operations: Ethics and Policy Considerations’, in David Boonin (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Philosophy and Public Policy, (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018): 112.

⁹⁵ Arthur Bright, ‘Ukrainian military defections boost pro-Russia militia as unrest spreads’, Christian Science Monitor, 16 April 2014, https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/terrorism-security/2014/0416/Ukrainian-military-defections-boost-pro-Russia-militia-as-unrest-spreads. Accessed 09/06, 2020.; Alexander Marquardt, ‘Ukraine’s Offensive Falters as Elite Units defect to Pro-Russia Side’, ABC News, 16 April 2014, https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/04/ukraines-offensive-falters-as-elite-units-defect-to-pro-Russia-side. Accessed 09/06/2020.

⁹⁶ David Ljunggren, ‘Russia says Azovstal siege is over, shows video of defenders surrendering’, Yahoo! News, 2022, https://www.yahoo.com/news/Russia-says-remaining-531-azovstal-192,141,701.html?guccounter = 1&guce_referrer = aHR0cHM6Ly93aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnLw&guce_referrer_sig = AQAAALqsoYUtONmO9X0K7ej5TrSvPXlzBEaUzNZ8QaQ707ch4METRYsCLiHbTWyzE5821TlsNQ4h-huocjcjWs9adUkZ-DLOY5fKnV4Zsz-XbIJ3IkmW-K6K2OkuviFGE-tZIHfhmGK7EZfzwNpF4l3vgzc2VlzCN1XkmB0UIHeIhBX5. Accessed 04/07/2022; BBC News, ‘Ukraine confirms Russia captured eastern city Lysychansk’, BBC News, 2022, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62030051. Accessed 04/07/2022.

⁹⁷ Tom Coupe, and Obrizan, Maksym, ‘The impact of war on happiness: The case of Ukraine’, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 132 (2016): 236.

⁹⁸ NATO, ‘Madrid Summit ends with far-reaching decisions to transform NATO’, NATO, 2022, https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_197574.htm?selectedLocale = en. Accessed 04/07/2022; NATO, ‘Finland and Sweden complete NATO accession talks’, NATO, 2022, https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_197737.htm. Accessed 04/07/2022.

⁹⁹ Arne Öhman, ‘Of snakes and faces: An evolutionary perspective on the psychology of fear’, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology¸ 50 (2009): 543.

¹⁰⁰ Gergely Tóth, ‘Legal Challenges in Hybrid Warfare Theory and Practice: Is There a Place for Legal Norms at All?’, in Sergey Sayapin, and Tsybulenko, Evhen (eds.), The Use of Force Against Ukraine and International Law, (The Hague: T.M.C. Asser Press, 2018): 182.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Euan Tyndall

Euan Tyndall conducted his BA in History and Politics at the University of Warwick, and his MA in International Security also at the University of Warwick. His research focused primarily on the fusion of military science and international relations, attempting to utilise von Clausewitz' On War in twenty-first century politics.