Center for Security Research “Prometheus” and Ukrainian OSINT–initiative ІnformNapalm with support of the Canadian Foundation for support of local initiatives issued a guideline for journalists and monitors about preconditions, problematic and peculiarities of war in Donbas.
The book “Donbas in flames” consists of three thematic blocks: an overview of regional history and geography, economic and social features of Donbas, necessary to understand preconditions of the conflict; chronology of the conflict and analysis of hybrid war toolkit. “This book is for a wide audience – experts, journalists, representatives of international missions, everyone who is going to make their own research or wants to understand what is going on in Donbas, and would like to get more comprehensive knowledge of the issue,” said Mykola Balaban, president of “Prometheus”, presenting the edition at a press-briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
One of the sections offers analysis of narratives in the media, in particular, in propagandistic media, illustrating hybrid war toolkit in action. This section was prepared in partnership with “InformNapalm” experts, which provided evidence of Russian involvement in Donbas. For instance, this is new Russian military equipment which is deployed only in Russian army, said Mykhailo Makaruk, “InformNapalm” spokesperson.
Annexes include a section on legal treatment of this conflict by various international institutions and organizations, as well as glossary of the conflict, with regard to changes of terms and discourses in media in the course of events, and a list of de-communized names of Donbas villages and towns.
The book will be translated into English, French, German and Russian and offered to foreign experts, journalists and diplomats dealing with this issue. Ukrainian version is already available for free download from “Prometheus” website.