Russia may defeat us through deceit. It's time to finally learn from our own mistakes - Vladimir Ermolенко.

As I read the news feed, I (and perhaps you too) get the impression that the world is slowly crumbling. It is breaking apart. It is swaying. It is disintegrating.

However, when I step into the physical reality, especially when we travel around Ukraine, I feel differently. Everything is stable. It has taken root. It possesses a reserve of resilience. It is molded by millions of steps of care.

No one is going anywhere.

And then I understand very clearly:

Russia will not defeat us through brute force, nor will it destroy us with missiles. But it can win through cunning. A microscopic virus. A thought. A perception. An emotion.

If they manage to make us think in a certain way, feel in a certain way, perceive in a certain way – then they stand a chance to win.

What is this viral thought?

That everything is collapsing. That everything is disintegrating. That everything is falling apart. That everything is made of sand.

That your neighbor is the enemy. That "upstairs" are only traitors. And "downstairs". And across the street. In short, that we are a house of cards.

Information and propaganda are not just weapons. They are a more powerful weapon than conventional ones. The aim of information warfare is not to deceive or tell lies. Its goal is to make the enemy think the way you want. Act the way you want. In other words: to strip them of their own will.

Will is a key term in Ukrainian culture. It encompasses freedom, the will to act, and the ability to master one's own will and the will of others.

Russia cannot defeat us. But it can unleash a virus that will lead us to defeat ourselves. A virus that will turn our will against ourselves.

This has happened in our history more than once. It is time to finally learn from our own mistakes.