«Kraina_info», remote education, psychological support: during the 19 days of the war, the Institute of Cognitive Modeling had launched a number of social projects

The largest information communities «Ukraine Now» in Telegram, «Kraina_info» in Viber, 24/7 free psychological support, distance learning in the community «School_info», war diaries in comics, international digest and sociological research, coordination of «Star Battalion»: 19 straight days of the war, the team of the Institute of Cognitive Modeling scales communication initiatives so that Ukraine wins daily on the information front.

Because of Russia’s war against Ukraine, we have transformed our community «Coronavirus_info», created by the Institute 2 years ago to fight the pandemic. Now, these are the largest verified public sources of reliable information: «Ukraine Now» in Telegram, which is implemented together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, as well as «Kraina_info» in Viber. They currently have 1.1 million and 2.4 million subscribers, respectively. Operational information from primary sources, infographics, instructions, refutation of fakes, notification of air threats, 24/7 our team works here as an information guard.

In the first days of the war, together with the Department of Medical Psychology, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Psychotherapy, we developed a First Aid Telegram bot, which was used by more than 40 thousand people. It contains practical tips to deal with a traumatic event or stress on your own. The next step was to launch a 24/7 free psychological support platform «Tell Me». 580 volunteer psychologists processed more than 3,000 applications for psychological help.

We understood that forced «holidays» for children should not interfere with their development and education. Together with the Basis School, we have developed a temporary curriculum for Primary School students, and on the Modern School platform — for students of grades 5-9. Every day, tasks for schoolchildren are published in the largest educational Viber community «School_info», which now has more than half a million subscribers.

In your Instagram account @war.diaries.ua we keep a war diary. Chronicles of front-line events, seasoned with stories and emotions inherent in a personal diary, are published in three languages-Ukrainian, Russian, and English. Volunteer illustrators Yulia Bessarab and Kateryna Kryvenko depict the most important, emotional events of the day in the struggle of Ukrainians for their freedom and sovereignty every day in comics.

To promptly and fully inform foreign journalists and representatives of international institutions, we have launched a daily English-language Digest on the war in Ukraine. With the mediation of the ICM office in Brussels, together with the German Marshall Fund and the Alliance for Securing Democracy, an online event «How to defeat the disinformation war in Ukraine» was held. More than 500 participants from all over the world joined it.

Together with the Social Monitoring Center and the First Rating System Agency, we conducted a national study on the political attitudes and emotional state of Ukrainians in war conditions. According to the results, almost 80% of Ukrainians believe in the victory of Ukraine.

In addition, the ICM team has united more than 100 Ukrainian opinion leaders and show biz stars into a «Star Battalion» for systematic communication about Russia’s war against Ukraine.

«Panic, fear, the spread of fakes, information warfare, it all has to be stopped. From the first day of the war, we knew what we were going to do. It’s what we do best. Promptly provide Ukrainians with verified and reliable information about events in Ukraine, maintain psychological health, and be a platform for educational opportunities. Our team works 24/7 for Ukrainians and an international audience so that the world knows the truth about Russia’s war against Ukraine, so that Ukrainians, even in a state of war, have fulcrum points, so that Russian propaganda fails on the information front every day,» states Viktor Berezenko, founder of the Institute of Cognitive Modeling.

The ICM team will continue to work 24/7 to provide prompt and reliable information to millions of people in Ukraine and abroad, and provide psychological support and educational opportunities. We believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine! We believe in Ukrainian diplomacy! We believe in the victory of Ukraine!