Ukraine is playing a dangerous game with Russia

The fake murder of a journalist is a short-term victory that is likely to have long-term costs

Lazarus-like, journalist Arkady Babchenko has arisen from the dead to accuse his would-be assassins. The Russian was probably due to be another enemy of President Vladimir Putin to die an unnatural death. Instead, and with the help of the Ukrainian Secret Service (SBU), he faked his murder to unmask the network planning his assassination.

Babchenko is used to controversy. His book, One Soldier’s War, is a brilliantly readable account of the violence endured by Russian soldiers in the Chechen campaigns. One of the most vile wars fought in recent years, the Kremlin’s conscripts arguably faced more brutality from their own chains of command than they did from the Chechens. Through this book as well as his other provocative writing, Babchenko fell foul of President Putin’s authoritarian state.

And yet, and yet … the Kremlin is the master of fake news, and for Kiev to play the same disinformation game is risky. It’s the political equivalent of Watford taking on Real Madrid. Already, pliant Russian politicians and journalists are linking Babchenko’s’ fake death with the poisoning of Sergei Skripal. These are part, they say, of the same plot to discredit Russia. All those that reported Babchenko’s fake death, whether the BBC, international agencies or individuals posting tweets, have played a part in the propagating of fake news. This isn’t good.

First, however, let’s put the Ukrainian case.

Ukraine is a weak state emerging from Russian domination. It has suffered repeated psychological defeats in recent years. Some of its personnel defected during the Russian annexation of Crimea and in the early days of the eastern Ukrainian war, which we now know from leaked Russian documents – the Surkov Leaks – was instigated and controlled by the Kremlin. Ukraine’s line held, but thanks to First World War-style volunteer battalions, not the state.

Yet Ukraine – to misquote the title of its national anthem – is not dead yet. It remains the only state in the Eastern Slavic world that even resembles a functioning democracy, albeit a chaotic one. Putin needs to destroy Ukrainian democracy to ensure an authoritarian future for Russia. There is a powerful strategic reason for us to support Kiev.

The SBU has been riddled with Russian informers; its director under the previous regime was actually a Russian passport holder. Its public victories have been few and far between. Babchenko himself has been the target of a state-sponsored campaign of hate. It’s clear, therefore, why both he and the SBU would want to celebrate a victory over Putin’s murdering middlemen. The danger is that this short-term victory helps Moscow’s agenda in the longer term.

One of the critical elements of Russian information warfare isn’t necessarily about winning people over so much as the creation of doubt to prevent concerted action. Effectively, the Russian state and its controlled media continually ask us: can you really be sure of something? Are you really sure of your actions? Do you really want to risk war with Russia by confronting it? One of the most infamous documents in the Surkov Leaks was the MH17 “Thematic Lines” document, and the eight disinformation lines it briefed out. One was to stoke fear of war with Russia. Doubt and fear are key Kremlin tools.

On Monday, I will be launching my definition of Russia’s new conflict, looking at the “matryoshka doll” of dozens of tools and techniques the Kremlin has been using in the creation of its new strategic art. At the heart of its full spectrum of conflict is the belief that – to use a military term – the centre of gravity in conflict is now the perception of reality. If Moscow can muddy your perception of what is real, that is a victory of sorts.

Therefore, when others – especially states – engage in fake news, we risk drifting down that path of perception manipulation. This is the enemy of truth and the friend of Moscow’s moral relativism.

By and large, Western politics depends on a factual conception of truth. How we interpret that truth is the cause of difference between conservative and Leftist views. But to move away from a fact-based view of the world is dangerous. We flirted with this in the squalid years of New Labour’s dodgy dossiers and casual mendaciousness. Even now, we pay a price in international credibility. What Moscow wants is a world where truth is relative and fact a fashion choice – hence the slick amorality of the Russian Television network, the rubbish peddled by the Sputnik news agency or the deluded conspiracy theories fanned online by Russian bots.

Ukraine’s Secret Services need to show that there was no other way to save Babchenko’s life. Otherwise they risk handing to Putin and his Kremlin team the fake news world it wants.

I have little doubt that MI5 would not have touched any kind of similar operation. It knows the price of playing the public. I am sure the SBU had its reasons for acting as it did, but states need to tell the truth. The goal here is the strategic integrity of our democracies, not just tactical victories over the Kremlin.

Robert Seely is MP for the Isle of Wight and sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee

READ MORE at telegraph.co.uk/opinion