Countering Simplistic Narratives about the Russo-Ukrainian War with Open-Source Intelligence

What is it about?

This chapter traces flawed analyses of russia's war against Ukraine since 2014. It demonstrates how novel sources and methods from neighbouring professions such as investigative journalism could be used to counter simplistic narratives that were widespread in academia before the full-scale invasion of 2022. Specifically, it shows the unique value but also some of the challenges using open-source intelligence (OSINT) and large-scale e-mail leaks in academic work. It encourages researchers to familiarize themselves with novel sources and methods but also argues that OSINT will continue to provide valuable insight into russian aggression worldwide whether researchers chose to engage with it or not.

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Photo by Sonia Dauer on Unsplash

Photo by Sonia Dauer on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The past decades have seen significant shortcomings in analyses of russia and Ukraine in worldwide academia. From an overestimation of russia’s military strength to an understatement of its willingness to wage genocidal wars against its neighbours, scholars of Eastern Europe in general, and of russia in particular, have too often ignored or overlooked signs of russian aggression. At the same time, they have often downplayed the agency of actors caught in-between, including that of Ukrainians, the Ukrainian state, and Ukrainian society. Russia’s full-scale invasion of February 2022 has surprised many who thought to possess intimate knowledge about russia and its foreign policy. It has also shed new light on a war that had been downplayed, ignored, or forgotten since russia invaded Ukraine in 2014.

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