Restricting Information About the War a Matter of State Security, Says Ukrainian Minister of Defense

“It is difficult to get used to the fact that during a war, the publication of information about hostilities must be as limited as possible. This is not a story about freedom of speech or the right to access information. This is a matter of state security,” Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said in a Telegram post on Wednesday, July 20.

Maliar stated that she believes, for example, when, during the war, experts begin to analyse in detail what methods of warfare the Ukrainian Armed Forces used in a particular situation, the enemy will be the first to read it, analyse it, and adjust its actions.

“And only official sources should talk about the enemy’s plans – the General Staff, the Ministry of Defense, the Main Intelligence Directorate. Because the enemy does not always need to know what we know about their plans. The same is true about the location of enemy forces,” she wrote.

Waging war is, among other things, the ability to deceive the enemy. And that’s why public fact-checking of information about hostilities is sometimes like a message to the enemy, “look, they’re hiding there,” she wrote.

“If the official sources of the Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, the Main Intelligence Directorate and their officials declare something, then this is what is necessary for the interests of the defense of our state. There are no spontaneous, random, uncoordinated statements. I understand that it is very exciting and spectacular – an online war, but this plays into the hands of our enemy – keep that in mind,” she added.

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