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Having entered the information age, Bishop and Goldman argue that information as warfare has become as important as information in warfare. With the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, the role of information in warfare became one of the pillars in discussions concerning hybrid warfare. This dissertation examines if there is such a phenomenon as a specific form of Russian information warfare. Using Bishop and Goldman’s model of information warfare, the dissertation uses a directed content analysis to analyse the annexation of Crimea, the Russian – Georgia war, as well as other country’s information operations. 

Arguing that the western understanding of information warfare is an insufficient tool to grasp the extent of Russian information warfare, the dissertation instead suggests using the Soviet concept of Active Measures to conceptualise Russian actions; that these actions should be viewed as continuation of traditional Soviet measures. The means differ, the purpose does not.

Concluding, the dissertation argues that a heightened degree of information security is required within the Swedish armed forces, and further research, for example into the French and American presidential elections, would wield further credence to the idea of Russian Active Measures.