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Journal on Baltic Security


Downstream Influence in the Russo-Ukrainian War: Grand Strategy War Gaming as a Novel Approach to Influence Operations
Volume 9, Issue 1 (2023), pp. 98–120
Pub. online: 27 June 2023      Type: Research Article      Open accessOpen Access
Received
12 March 2023
Accepted
23 May 2023
Published
27 June 2023

Abstract

Abstract: This article delves into an examination of video game streaming and its impact on shaping perceptions of the Russo-Ukrainian War as an influence operation. Specifically, it investigates the case of a 16-year-old boy known as GrishaPutin who streamed a multiplayer game of Hearts of Iron IV from the ChVK Wagner Centre. Drawing upon the framework of popular geopolitics and considering the narrative, ludic, and representational dimensions of these streams, this article situates the event within the broader social context in which the influence operation unfolds. Ultimately, this paper concludes that this event represents a novel and yet to be fully established practice in the realm of influence operations. It highlights how such information operations can evolve and adapt, with non-state actors occasionally driving innovation in ways that may not have been anticipated or planned by established state entities.

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Keywords
Game studies Influence operations Simulation Russia Ukraine

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