The Main Stages of Deployment of Hybrid Aggression by the Russian Federation Against Ukraine

Abstract

A historical analysis of the hybrid aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which became the most dramatic event in the recent history of Ukraine, at the beginning of the third decade of independence, was conducted. The open armed actions of the Russian Federation against Ukraine caused new challenges not only to the national security of Ukraine, but also to the security of the world in general. Currently, the term "hybrid war" best characterizes the actions of the Russian Federation in relation to Ukraine. It is this type of warfare that combines not only military means, but also informational, economic, political, diplomatic, and humanitarian means. At the same time, the «hybrid wars» of the Russian Federation use many tools, starting from the spread of panic rumors to the mobilization of the potential of the church, agents of influence in the economy, political bodies or the use of so-called soft power. The article analyzes the step-by-step process of the military conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, starting with the occupation of the Crimean Peninsula, the open Russian-Ukrainian armed confrontation in the east of the Ukrainian state, and ending with a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Within each of the stages, separate periods are distinguished, the evolution of which determined and changed the motives of the behavior of the Russian Federation and led to the beginning of hostilities. The Russian-Ukrainian war requires a complex scientific understanding, study and generalization of the experience of conducting military operations in the largest armed conflict in Europe since the end of the Second World War. Conclusions were made regarding the need to consolidate the efforts of the EU, the USA and other democratic states as a guarantee of preventing hybrid aggression by states that act from the position of force, rather than the force of law.