FORMATION OF THE STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM IN UKRAINE

Abstract

Abstract. Perhaps the most apt and concise description of the process of filling the information space during modern conflicts is the catchphrase most often associated with the famous American politician of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Johnson Hiram: «The first casualty of war is the truth». The main idea of modern strategic communications was captured by the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln: «Tell the people the truth, and the country will be safe». At first glance, the very question of the ethical aspect in information confrontation seems illogical in today's conditions, when the Ukrainian Defense Forces are repelling a large-scale Russian invasion, in which the maximum range of tools of disinformation, propaganda, information and psychological operations and all other means of deception are fully used. But if we delve deeper into the topic of state management of information space protection and information confrontation in general, it becomes clear that successes and failures in the area, which is often pretentiously called the «information front», directly depend on the legal regulation of this sphere and the ethical qualities of the personnel implementing the state information policy. The consequences of deception operations, or vice versa - accurate and reliable information of audiences - in turn often result in changes in the defense policy of entire states, provision of weapons and permits for their use, demoralization, or vice versa - activation and successful actions of units and military formations not only at the tactical but also at the operational level, significant changes in the front line with the transfer of control over cities and sometimes entire regions. Information actions create moral superiority or demoralizing factors that are immediately reflected not only in public opinion or diplomacy, but also on the battlefield, where they quickly lead to geopolitical consequences. The purpose of the proposed study is to find ways to improve the efficiency of public administration mechanisms in the field of information space security protection by analyzing the legal and ethical factors which influence the promotion of the State information policy, and the establishment and functioning of the public administration system in the field of information space security protection. The objective of the study is to analyze scientific works, official reports and journalistic materials, regulations and other sources that provide an opportunity to study the legal and ethical issues related to the formation and functioning of the strategic communications system in Ukraine in the context of repulsing the Russian large-scale invasion by the Ukrainian Defense Forces. The scientific novelty of the study and its results is a comprehensive consideration of the problematic issues of legal and ethical nature of modern public administration in the field of protecting the security of Ukraine's information space with a focus on the Ukrainian experience of deploying a system of strategic communications, in particular, information actions aimed at reducing the effectiveness of the enemy's destructive information and psychological influence, which were implemented in the context of repulsing the Russian large-scale invasion by the Ukrainian Defense Forces. Methodology. The following methods of scientific research were used in the course of the study: historical, comparative analysis, retrospective analysis, analysis and synthesis, deduction, induction, systemic and structural, linguistic, and formal logical. The conclusions include proposals for specific measures that could partially compensate for the problems and contradictions of the ethical and legal nature of the functioning of strategic communications in Ukraine and increase the effectiveness of public administration mechanisms in the field of information space protection.