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The Ukrainian crisis has witnessed intensification of information confrontation between Russia and the West. Canada - being an integral part of Western alliance and staunchly opposing to Russian actions on the Ukrainian Southeast – attracted Kremlin`s ire expressed in intensification of Russia`s information assault against it. The decision of Ottawa to deploy military forces in the Baltic Sea region and some legislative gestures were construed in Moscow as openly anti-Russian behaviour and a perfect example of Russophobia. This paper seeks to investigate the structure, key operative principles and distinctive features of Russia`s propaganda machine, and how these are used by the Russian side in its information campaign against Western alliance and Canada, in particular. The research demonstrates sophistication and elaborateness of Russia`s disinformation techniques: borrowing certain traits from the pre-1991 period, Russia managed to surpass its historical predecessor. This owed to the advent of new technologies and elimination of the ideological surcharge and previous dogmatism. On the basis of this research it could be argued that in spite of fierce disinformation assault that countries of the Western alliance have had to deal with after 2014, Russia`s resources are finite and Kremlin`s actions vary on a country-to-country basis. It thus could be stated that Russia`s capabilities against Canada in terms of information-phycological warfare are limited. This, however, does not mean that the peril is nonexistent. If (and, apparently, when) interests of Canada and Russia clash in the Arctic region, Moscow might be willing activate other means (the "cyber" pillar) of information confrontation, which have been tested in other theaters of Russia`s activities.

The former Soviet military bastion, Russia's westernmost region, the Kaliningrad Oblast, has again re-gained its military strength. The process of re-militarization that was initiated after 2009, resulted in transformation of the area into Russia's Anti-Access/Area-Denial (A2/AD) zone. In the aftermath of the Ukrainian crisis (started in the late 2013) and growing alienation between Moscow and its Western partners, the oblast has stepped onto a qualitatively new level of militarization. At the same time, following changing nature of warfare, aside from military-related steps, the Russian side has heavily invested in non-military aspects as well. The analysis yields three policy implications. First, Russia's understanding of the A2/AD concept is different from the Western reading, and Kaliningrad exemplifies this supposition. Second, Russia will continue using Kaliningrad as a part of its growing reliance on asymmetricity. Third, underestimation of Russia's resolve and/or Kaliningrad capabilities will have largely negative conclusions for the Baltic Sea region and countries that comprise it.

Russia's Military Strategy and Doctrine is designed to educate Russia watchers, policymakers, military leaders, and the broader foreign policy community about the Russian Armed Forces and security apparatus across the full spectrum of geographic, doctrinal and domain areas. Each chapter addresses a different strategic-level issue related to the Russian military, ranging from "hybrid" warfare doctrine, to the role nuclear weapons play in its strategy, to cyber and electromagnetic warfare, to Moscow's posture in the Arctic or the Black Sea, to the lessons its Armed Forces have learned from their ongoing operations in Syria and eastern Ukraine. And each section of the book is written by one of the world's foremost experts on that theme of Russia's military development. The key questions emphasized by this book include "how Russia fights wars" and "how its experiences with modern conflicts are shaping the evolution of Russia's military strategy, capabilities and doctrine." The book's value comes not only from a piecemeal look at granular Russian strategies in each of the theaters and domains where its Armed Forces may act, but more importantly this study seeks to present a unifying description of Russia's military strategy as a declining but still formidable global power. Russia's Military Strategy and Doctrine will be an essential reference for US national security thinkers, NATO defense planners and policymakers the world over who must deal with the potential military and security challenges posed by Moscow.