This book analyzes the transformation of Ukraine’s media landscape from a post-Soviet state to a resilient bulwark against Russian hybrid warfare. The volume addresses the critical question of how democratic discourse can survive weaponized disinformation. Using an interdisciplinary framework that combines historical analysis, media studies, and digital forensics, the contributions trace the evolution of Ukrainian journalism through key historical turning points—from the 1991 independence to the Revolution of Dignity and the ongoing full-scale invasion (with the end point in January 2026). The authors identify the “whole-of-society” approach—uniting civil society, fact-checkers, and the state—as the central method for countering Kremlin narratives without resorting to censorship. Findings demonstrate that “arming truth” requires active defense through rigorous verification and transparency rather than counter-propaganda. This book translates these lessons into a concrete roadmap for German and EU policymakers, proposing institutional designs like "prebunking" strategies to fortify European democracies against similar hybrid threats. The volume’s contributors are Danylo Poliluev-Schmidt, Yevhenii Surniaiev, Boris Schmidt, Noah MacKay, Philip Florian Braun, and Serge Brenner.
Price: $29.00
Pages: 294
Publisher: Ibidem Press
Imprint: Ibidem Press
Series: Ukrainian Voices
Publication Date:
01 September 2026
Trim Size: 8.27 X 5.83 in
ISBN: 9783838221502
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
POLITICAL SCIENCE / General
Danylo Poliluev-Schmidt (Edited by)
Danylo Poliluev-Schmidt, M.Sc., studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Potsdam. He works as an essayist and columnist for various German and European magazines. His writing focuses on European security, the culture of remembrance, and media freedom—always from a personal perspective shaped by his Eastern European background. Since 2022, he has designed and led the seminar "Armed Truth" at the University of Potsdam.
Patrick Sensburg (Foreword by)
Prof. Dr. Patrick Ernst Sensburg worked as a lawyer specializing in administrative law. From 2006 to 2008 he was a professor at the Federal University of Applied Administrative Sciences and since 2008 he has been a professor of public law and European law at the University of Police and Public Administration in North Rhine-Westphalia. He has also been a guest professor at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies since 2017 and a guest professor at the University of Vienna since 2018. The author has been a member of the German Parliament since 2009, including Member of the Parliamentary Oversight Panel on the Intelligence Services.
