Ukraine is offering to share 11 years’ worth of knowledge on fighting disinformation with the Philippines as both countries face what Kyiv’s ambassador sees as an active Russian disinformation threat in the region.
Ukraine Ambassador Yuliia Fediv said Kyiv wants to work with Manila on cybersecurity and counter-disinformation initiatives, citing Ukraine’s decade-long battle against Russian propaganda since the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
‘It’s not only the war on the battleground – it’s an information war,’ Fediv told Philstar.com in an interview on September 29. ‘Russia actually succeeded during many years to manipulate the internal political situation in Ukraine. Thanks to active media outlets and big anti-disinformation campaigns, we developed different tools which can be used by society to check the facts.’
Call for PH-Ukraine partnership
Fediv said Ukraine is finalizing a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine government covering cybersecurity, including programs to counter disnformation.
‘Ukraine can be a reliable partner for the Philippines to exchange knowledge and the tools we already developed during the last 11 years,’ she said. ‘It is important to make the truth available, because in the post-truth society it’s easy to manipulate people’s minds.’
Moscow’s disinformation campaigns, Fediv said, are not confined to Ukraine. This is why Kyiv has been expanding its diplomatic presence in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Ukraine opened its embassy in Manila in December 2024.
‘We felt that Russia was and is pretty present here, thanks to great mis- and disinformation campaigns putting a question mark over Ukraine’s independence and history,’ Fediv said. ‘That’s why it’s important to share the experience we have and also to tell people’s stories – that is the main tool against disinformation.’
The ambassador said both countries need to cooperate and exchange information to be “on the same page.”
Ukraine on the South China Sea
The Philippines has faced waves of disinformation around both domestic politics and its assertion of sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea – the part of the South China Sea that falls under its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone. Several disinformation and malinformation campaigns have sought to undermine the 2016 arbitral ruling that rejected Beijing’s sweeping claims over nearly the entire sea.
On the South China Sea issue, Fediv said Ukraine is committed to Article 2 of the UN Charter, which calls for preserving territorial integrity and sovereignty and solving disputes peacefully.
She cited Ukraine’s recent hosting of the fifth International Crimea Platform summit held during the UN General Assembly, where more than 50 countries signed the New York Declaration affirming rules-based international order and peaceful dispute resolution.
The ambassador said Ukraine is “the most interested party in preserving peace and rule-based order” among UN Charter signatories amid its ongoing war with Russia.