The Messengers of War: How Messaging Apps Became Weapons in the Russia–Ukraine War

On February 24, 2022, the war in Ukraine did not arrive only through official announcements or television broadcasts. It appeared first in messaging apps — in forwarded videos, anonymous channels, improvised maps, leaked data, and fragmented conversations happening in real time.The Messengers of War examines how messaging platforms became a decisive layer of modern warfare, reshaping how intelligence is gathered, narratives are formed, and civilians experience conflict. Using the Russia–Ukraine war as a case study, Sergey Berezkin traces how tools originally designed for everyday communication evolved into instruments of open-source intelligence, persuasion, surveillance, and control.The book explores:How messaging apps transformed OSINT, HUMINT, and GEOINTWhy bots, APIs, and automation lowered the barrier to intelligence workHow panic, trust, and impersonation spread through chats and channelsWhy visibility creates both transparency and manipulationHow civilians became unwitting participants in the information battlefieldWritten for general readers, journalists, analysts, and anyone curious about how modern wars are fought beyond the front lines, this book avoids sensationalism in favor of clear explanation and documented examples.The Messengers of War is not about how to use these tools — it is about understanding the systems already shaping how wars are seen, interpreted, and remembered.Because the next conflict will not arrive quietly.It will arrive as a message Read more