The Role of Cyber warfare in the Russia-Ukraine conflict – Importance and limitations

Context: Post 100 days of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the world is awash with speculation about the reasons for the so-called failure of the Russian armed forces to deal a decisive blow against a much smaller Ukrainian army. Reasons for Russia’s lacklustre performance need to be found elsewhere. Given that cyber is often touted as the Fifth Dimension of warfare, it may be worthwhile to examine whether this indeed is the first major conflict in which ‘cyber’ is playing a crucial role, allowing a weaker nation with cyber capabilities to use it to its advantage.

Reasons for the bad performance of the Russian army

Several reasons have been adduced by experts in the West for the lacklustre performance of the Russian army. Frequently mentioned are: Lack of motivation and the poor morale of the Russian forces:

• Many of whom were conscript