EUAM supports MoIA communication teams in improving methods of countering foreign manipulation in the information space
February 26, 2025
With the support of the European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM), the Communications Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs organised a training conference ‘FIMI in Ukraine’ for the communications units of the National Police, State Emergency Service, National Guard, State Border Guard Service, Main Service Centre of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Migration Service of Ukraine. The participants deepened their knowledge of manipulation and influence by foreign actors, as well as the means of detecting and counteracting these dangerous phenomena.
Why study FIMI?
In his welcoming remarks, Johannes Rueger, Head of EUAM Ukraine Press & Public Information Division, spoke about the communication activities conducted by the Mission and expressed commitment to further cooperation with the Ministry:
“The European Union Advisory Mission Ukraine has been cooperating with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and its units for 10 years. EUAM is the only EU civilian mission with a standalone team specialising in strategic communications. Its main task is to support and guide our partners in the field of stratcoms. For this purpose, we contribute to the development of communication strategies, deliver trainings and other training activities, and provide essential equipment.”
Viktoriia Pyvovarova, Deputy Director of the Communication Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, noted that FIMI poses a threat to national security through information attacks, propaganda, psychological operations and other methods of influence that this phenomenon involves, so the communication units of MoIA should immediately identify and respond to such challenges.
The emergence of the FIMI concept in EU strategic communications
Kyrylo Viktorov, Deputy Head of the Center’s Department for Countering Information Threats to National Security, delivered a presentation on “FIMI as a Phenomenon: Key Concepts and Tools”.
“FIMI is an abbreviation that means foreign information manipulation and interference in the information space. For the first time, the European Union publicly addressed the phenomenon and threat of FIMI in 2022, in particular, in its official document “EU Strategic Compass,” said Kyrylo Viktorov.
In his presentation, he described what a FIMI incident consists of, the features of manipulative content, and the methods of FIMI influence on the public consciousness, their purpose, and the danger they pose. He also briefly introduced some methods of combating them based on real-life cases.
FIMI in Ukraine and the world
Colonel Oleksandr Melnichenko, representative of the Cyber Department of the Security Service of Ukraine, told the audience about the sources of FIMI, Ukrainian experience in detecting and countering it:
“FIMI does not appear by itself. There are specific countries that are the source of this phenomenon. Although the term was coined and used by the EU, the FIMI concept has largely existed thanks to Ukraine’s experience in detecting and countering hostile information influences since at least 2014.”
He noted that the enemy defines the use of information influences in its official domestic policy documents to form lobbying centers and promote its pragmatic interests in the world. He also emphasised the enemy’s dangerous tactics in the information field.
At the same time, the speaker underlined that hostile states often create duplicate websites of government agencies, so communications departments need to closely monitor the media field and, if detected, immediately notify the respective law enforcement agencies.
Communication strategies with the “Global South”
Ilya Panfilov, Head of the Group of Experts on Strategic Communications with the Global South at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said that in 2022, the “New Horizons Strategy” was proclaimed, which provided for the promotion of Ukraine’s national interests in all parts of the world, including the countries of the Global South. In 2023-2024, this was manifested by the approval of two communication strategies that define the basic principles of interaction with the countries of Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, and are a logical continuation of Ukraine’s political and economic strategies for interaction with these regions.
In his report, he said that as part of the implementation of communication strategies for the countries of the Global South, a number of large-scale information campaigns have been conducted based on the promotion of exclusively truthful information about Ukraine.
Experience of media analysis and operational monitoring of the National Police
Roman Butko, Head of the Criminal Analysis Department of the National Police of Ukraine, delivered a presentation on “Development of Analytical Capabilities of Law Enforcement Agencies”.
In his report, he described the types of analytical products and emphasised the importance of timely identification of the first source of information or disinformation by communication officers, and transferring such information to the competent authorities for further analysis and responding to information attacks.
“Information from the original source is the fastest to be disseminated, so the timeliness of the response to this or that information affects the perception and further reaction of society,” the speaker pointed out.
He explained the basic principles of OSINT (open-source intelligence), which involves the search for and use of military, political, economic and other information from open sources.
The conference participants actively participated in the discussion of the speakers’ presentations and inquired about effective tools for responding to disinformation, methods of countering manipulations, means of proper and effective processing of visual materials, etc.
