KRAKOWSKIE STUDIA MIĘDZYNARODOWE
KRAKOW INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
XXI: 2024 | e-ISSN 2451-0610 | ISSN 1733-2680
https://doi.org/10.48269/2451-0610-ksm-2024-002
Polina Khmilevska
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8434-8116
Russia’s soft and sharp power on the example of policy towards Ukraine
Abstract
Russian invasion of Ukraine might look like purely military act, however that was already the result of long years of information, cultural and scientific war. These aspects are the elements of broader term ‘sharp power’ – a ‘soft power’ that is being exploited by authoritarian states like Russia and China. This mental occupation of Ukraine has been carefully planned by the Russian state, which has been keeping Ukraine from development of its civil society, political system, cultural elites, national memory and many more. Nevertheless, despite all the skepticism, Ukrainian people are fighting for their state and territory the third year, which proves the existence of Ukrainian nation and its maturity.
Key words: soft power, sharp power, Russia, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, information war