Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine demonstrates how modern conflict increasingly relies on antagonistic information threats alongside military force. This policy brief examines how such threats operate and what lessons they offer for European resilience. First, it outlines a framework through which hostile actors gradually weaken societies’ capacity to interpret events and trust institutions. Second, the brief analyzes Ukrainian cyber operations, highlighting that sustained defensive investment can reduce destructive impact even as attack activity intensifies. The brief further examines the economic implications, showing that antagonistic threats create continuous fiscal pressure as monitoring, detection, and incident response become permanent public expenditures rather than temporary crisis measures. Finally, the brief draws policy implications for Europe, stressing the need to treat cyber and information resilience as macro-critical infrastructure and to strengthen coordination across policy domains.

Key points from the FREE Network policy brief

• Antagonistic information threats are not isolated fake stories or single cyber incidents, but part of a larger system designed to erode trust, distort public understanding, and influence behavior over time.
• Ukraine’s experience shows that sustained investment in cyber defense can reduce the damage and the severity of attacks, even as their frequency increases.
• Ignoring these threats carries significant economic costs: they create permanent fiscal pressure, weaken institutional efficiency, and increase systemic risk across public finances, labor markets, and long-term growth.
• For this reason, cyber and information resilience should be treated as macro-critical infrastructure, requiring sustained investment and coordinated governance across sectors.

Meet the authors

• Anna Anisimova, Researcher, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE)
  Email: anna.anisimova@hhs.se
  
  
• Ksenia Rundin, Post-doctoral Fellow, Center for Statecraft and Strategic Communication at the Stockholm School of Economics (CSSC at SSE)
  Email: ksenia.rundin@hhs.se