Russia's hybrid war and the annexation of Crimea through the eyes of Polish researchers

The article covers annexation of the Crimean peninsula in the framework of the hybrid war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine in the works of Polish researchers. Emphasizes the key role of the information component of the hybrid threat. The methodological basis is the principles of historical knowledge – science, complexity, objectivity, which determine the analysis of scientific publications in connection with socio-political and socio-economic events. On the basis of consideration of the works of domestic and Polish scientists, the peculiarities of the Russian information-psychological operation on the incorporation of the Crimean peninsula were analyzed, attention was paid to the facts of distortion of events and manipulation of the consciousness of society. The author aims to analyze the current and future paradigm of the development of the military-political situation in Ukraine and Europe. Prospects for further research should be aimed at supplementing the knowledge about the totality of factors of various influences of Russia on the countries of the post-Soviet space, as well as on the course of events in the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, identifying the tendencies of Russian information-psychological expansion and counteracting it in the context of information security.The works of Polish researchers confirm that the tendency of increasing the role of the information resource of the state and its strategic importance in the overall system of defense potential is now clearly visible. In 2014, it was a common mistake of most scientists and experts to believe that only Ukraine is the target of hybrid attacks, however, after five years of hybrid aggression, it becomes clear that the hybrid war "in Russian" there is against the western countries also. The subject of the hybrid Kremlin attacks is European democracies, and Moscow's goal the destruction of within European and Euro-Atlantic unity. Poland plays an important role in supporting the EU's policy of maintaining sanctions on Russia, which is a key instrument to deter further escalation of hybrid actions against Ukraine. There was an urgent need for scientific research of problems relating to information and psychological confrontation, propaganda technologies and counter-propaganda. Given the relevance and practical importance of these issues, further research is advisable to carry out in the direction of development of complex materials on the history of hybrid wars, with a significant emphasis on the consideration of information-psychological operation on the annexation of the Crimea.Keywordshybrid war, russian expansion, information influence, annexation, Crimea, propaganda.