The Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) was part of the international research project The V4 Region and the War in Ukraine: Lessons in Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference, supported by the International Visegrad Fund. The project brought together the Corvinus University of Budapest in Hungary, the Res Publica Foundation in Poland, the Prague Security Studies Institute in the Czech Republic, and the NEST Institute in Slovakia to examine Russia’s foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) efforts targeting the Visegrad region in the context of the war in Ukraine.

The project focused on the largely unexplored question of how Russia planned and coordinated its contemporary FIMI activities across the V4 countries. While previous research had identified key disinformation narratives, actors, and channels operating in the region, there had been limited systematic research into the extent to which these activities formed part of a coordinated, overarching strategy.

Using a comparative and transnational methodology, the project analysed selected key events of the war in Ukraine and traced the narratives promoted by identified Russian disinformation channels, including their timing, sequencing, and duration. By comparing developments across the four Visegrad countries, the research aimed to identify common patterns that could demonstrate the coordinated nature of Russia’s FIMI efforts against the region.

The project aimed to strengthen understanding of the regional nature of Russia’s FIMI threat and contribute to more effective national and regional responses. Its findings provided evidence-based insights to support countermeasures, information resilience, media literacy, and greater cooperation and knowledge sharing across the Visegrad region.

The project was supported by the International Visegrad Fund, which promotes cooperation among the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia in areas including civil society, education, research, and regional cooperation.

 

Watch the video below for an overview of the key findings of the research.