Authors

Discussion

Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine has sharply foregrounded the problem of the fake as a weapon of cognitive warfare. Within this context, the fake operates not merely as a tool of manipulation but as a strategic component of cultural warfare, producing an alternative reality in the form of a simulacrum. This simulacrum becomes the very medium of communication, in which truth is displaced and replaced by the sign. Fakes generated in wartime construct a pseudo-logic of war that effectively mobilizes mass consciousness, extending its influence well beyond the borders of Russia. In the cognitive domain, the fake functions as a weapon of semantic disorientation — not only imposing disinformation but also inducing distrust, panic, and apathy.