The fourth annual specialized Workshop “COUNTERING FIMI WEEKEND,” dedicated to countering foreign information intervention and manipulation, took place in Lviv. Marina Tkachuk, Director of the Department of Control, Analysis, Strategic and Regional Development at the National Council, participated in the event. Ukrainian government officials and international experts discussed protecting democratic processes from information threats, interagency cooperation, and the use of artificial intelligence to detect disinformation.
The Workshop was organized by the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, in collaboration with the Swedish Agency for Psychological Protection (MPF) and the European Union Advisory Mission in Ukraine (EUAM).
This year’s training theme is “Safeguarding Democratic Integrity: Institutional Strategies Against Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI)”.
Participants discussed how government institutions can strengthen their resilience to information pressure, identify threats in a timely manner, and coordinate actions to counter them.
Experts from the EU Advisory Mission, the Swedish Psychological Defense Agency, the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA), and the Swedish Research Institutes (RISE) shared their experiences. They presented European approaches to safeguarding democratic processes and mechanisms for the early detection of information threats.
The practical part of the Workshop focused on the use of artificial intelligence in analytical work. Participants learnt about tools that help identify and analyze Russian disinformation.
Foreign information intervention and manipulation (FIMI) can influence public opinion, undermine trust in government institutions, and distort the information environment. For Ukraine, which is constantly subjected to Russian information attacks, it is important to detect such influences in a timely manner and ensure a coordinated response from government agencies.
Countering Russian information influence is one of the National Council’s areas of activity. The regulator monitors media content, identifies the dissemination of Russian propaganda and anti-Ukrainian narratives, and works to develop media literacy and raise professional standards among journalists. Since 2022, the National Council has been cooperating with the National Security and Defense Council’s Center for Countering Disinformation under a memorandum of cooperation. This cooperation encompasses the identification and analysis of manipulative materials, the exchange of expertise, and countering hostile information influence. One example of this cooperation is the “Russian Hate Speech” project.
COUNTERING FIMI WEEKEND – An annual international training initiative aimed at strengthening the capacity of government agencies to counter foreign information intervention and manipulation. The workshops have been held since 2023. Participants learn modern methods for detecting and analyzing information threats and exchange experiences with international experts. In particular, in 2024, the focus was on using artificial intelligence to counter disinformation, and in 2025, on working with open-source intelligence (OSINT) and applying AI to detect information threats.
