In the fifth year of the war, the Russian authorities decided to “mirror” Ukrainian state projects on prisoners of war and the missing by creating their own “analogs” of the “I Want to Live,” “I Want to Find,” and “I Want to Return” projects. But there is one nuance.

In the fifth year of the war, the Russian authorities decided to “mirror” Ukrainian state projects on prisoners of war and the missing by creating their own “analogs” of the “I Want to Live,” “I Want to Find,” and “I Want to Return” projects. But there is one nuance.

Ukraine created these projects in due time for the public good, responding to the requests of those affected by Putin’s “movement” and filling the vacuum that arose because of the Russian authorities’ inaction on the issues of Russian POWs and missing persons. After the start of the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian state created a separate body for its citizens dealing with issues of prisoners and the missing, as well as the corresponding digital services. It was then forced to expand this work to Russians as well.

Russia itself still failed to create anything like that, preferring instead to try to influence Ukrainians while ignoring the needs of its own citizens. As a result, the Kremlin decided to create its own simulacra for information operations against Ukrainian society, aimed at influencing the families of POWs, civilian captives, and the missing.

Countering this influence was discussed during a working meeting at the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, chaired by Brigadier General Dmytro Usov, secretary of the Coordination Headquarters and supervisor of the “I Want to...” line of projects, with the participation of representatives of Ukrainian intelligence and security agencies, as well as the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs.

“This is a very telling indicator: the fact that the Russians are borrowing our experience. They see that the Ukrainian projects, which have been operating effectively for several years now, are effective. That is why they are copying and mirroring them,” he emphasized.

From the first days of the war, since 2014, Russia has been trying to use every opportunity to influence Ukrainian society, its most vulnerable parts, using every possible method. The dissemination of reliable information through official channels, which include the projects in the “I Want to...” line, is an important element in countering Russian information and psychological influence.

The "I Want to Live" project on social media:

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