In a move that underscores the enduring importance of the information battlefield, Anait Khoperia has been appointed acting head of the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. The announcement, made by the NSDC’s press service and reported by UNN, confirms that her appointment took effect on October 1, 2026. It is a role that carries enormous weight in a country that has been the target of sustained and sophisticated information warfare for years. The Center, created to identify, analyze, and push back against false narratives designed to destabilize Ukraine, sits at the intersection of national security, public communication, and digital policy. In normal times, leading such an institution would require careful coordination with the government, media, civil society, and international partners. In wartime, the stakes are far higher. Every misleading headline, manipulated video, or fabricated official statement can shape public trust, influence morale, and even affect real-world decision-making. Khoperia’s appointment signals a commitment to institutional continuity and professional expertise at a moment when Ukraine’s information resilience is not merely a technical matter but a matter of survival. She steps into the role at a time when disinformation is no longer just about foreign propaganda, but about exploiting social divisions, undermining confidence in state institutions, and weakening the unity of a society under constant stress. Her task is not simply to debunk false claims, but to build the kind of knowledge networks and trusted communication channels that allow a society to withstand manipulation. It is a role that requires not only institutional knowledge but a steady nerve, a clear ethical compass, and the ability to adapt quickly to threats that often evolve faster than policies can be written.
Khoperia’s path to this leadership position began long before the Center came into existence, rooted in a strong academic foundation and a deep familiarity with the rule of law. She is a lawyer by profession, a detail that matters more than it might first appear. The ability to distinguish evidence from assertion, to trace a claim to its source, and to understand how narratives are constructed and weaponized are all skills that legal training sharpens. In 2015, she graduated from the Faculty of Law at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, earning a master’s degree in law with honors. That achievement placed her among a generation of young Ukrainian professionals who came of age just as their country was beginning to confront the reality of Russian aggression. She did not stop there. In 2023, she defended her dissertation and obtained a PhD in law from the Academician F. H. Burchak Scientific Research Institute of Private Law and Entrepreneurship of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine. Her academic background gave her more than credentials; it gave her a disciplined way of thinking. In the messy world of countering disinformation, legal reasoning helps separate fact from carefully constructed fiction. It also gives her the authority to speak credibly about legal and constitutional boundaries, an important quality for someone working within the National Security and Defense Council structure. Her early career reflected a dual interest in international law and public administration. In 2015 and 2016, she worked as an assistant to an international expert at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, a position supported by the British Embassy. That experience placed her inside one of Ukraine’s most fragile and vital institutions, where the fight against corruption overlapped with the fight for public trust. Long before she ever focused on disinformation, she was already learning how institutional integrity can be a form of national security in its own right.
The years that followed gave her a broad, practical view of how the Ukrainian state functions. From 2018 to 2019, she served as a chief specialist in the Department of International Disputes at the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. There, she worked on issues that required careful reading of international law and the ability to defend Ukraine’s positions in complex legal arenas. It was not glamorous work, but it was essential. For the next two years, she moved to the State Tax Service of Ukraine, where she worked as a state inspector in the Department of Legal Support. That may seem like an odd step for someone who would eventually lead a counter-disinformation unit, but it gave her something invaluable: an intimate understanding of how state institutions operate under pressure, how bureaucracy can either help or hinder a national response, and how even the most technical governmental functions can become targets for narrative attacks. In 2020 and 2021, Khoperia shifted into a communications-adjacent role at JSC Ukrzaliznytsia, the state railway company, where she was responsible for international cooperation in the Department of Information Policy and Public Relations. This was perhaps the clearest bridge to her future career. Working in public relations within a massive state-owned company taught her how messaging is managed, how crises are communicated, and how cooperation with international partners can strengthen institutional credibility. It also exposed her to the practical challenges of communicating with the public during times of serious national challenge, including the early stages of the pandemic and the growing threat of full-scale war. By the time she joined the Center for Countering Disinformation in June 2021, she had built an unusual combination of legal rigor, administrative experience, and communications insight. That combination would prove essential.
Khoperia’s rise within the Center has been consistent and substantial. She joined as an international cooperation manager, a position that required building relationships with foreign institutions and integrating Ukraine’s counter-disinformation work with broader international efforts. It is often the quiet work of such positions that shapes long-term influence. From there, she advanced to leadership roles, eventually serving as deputy head and then heading the Department for Countering Information Threats to National Security. Each promotion reflected not just competence but an ability to translate complex analysis into actionable priorities. Inside the Center, she came to understand how disinformation campaigns are coordinated, how they exploit social media algorithms and local media ecosystems, and how state institutions must work together to respond without violating free expression or damaging Ukraine’s democratic credibility. She also invested in her own development as a leader. She completed training programs at the Aspen Institute Kyiv, an institution known for cultivating values-based leadership, and at Total Defence, a program focused on comprehensive national resilience. More significantly, she became a participant in the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, a prestigious exchange designed for emerging leaders from around the world. These experiences broadened her perspective beyond the immediate Ukrainian context, giving her exposure to how other countries understand strategic communications, media literacy, and information security. In a field where the same false narratives are often recycled across borders, such international experience is not a luxury. It is a necessity. Her colleagues describe a patient and methodical professional, someone who prefers strategy to spectacle and substance to performance. Those qualities are essential in a field where emotional reactions can easily distort judgment and where the pressure to respond publicly can overwhelm the need to respond well.
As acting head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, Khoperia will now oversee all aspects of Ukraine’s institutional efforts to counter hostile information operations. That includes monitoring and analyzing disinformation trends, developing warning mechanisms for state institutions, coordinating public messaging during crises, and working with platforms to limit the spread of harmful content. It also includes supporting the people who have been doing this exhausting and often intangible work for years. The word “acting” suggests a provisional mandate, but in wartime, such roles often carry the same weight as permanent appointments, especially when they go to individuals who have already proven themselves inside the institution. Her immediate task will be continuity. The Center has developed important working relationships with intelligence agencies, media organizations, civil society groups, and foreign partners. Preserving those relationships while adapting to new threats requires leadership that understands both the mechanics and the mission. She will also need to navigate the political and bureaucratic complexities of the National Security and Defense Council, an environment where coordination is as important as analysis. In practical terms, she must help Ukraine respond to an ever-changing information landscape that now includes deepfakes, AI-generated content, coordinated bot networks, and the weaponization of digital platforms at enormous scale. Her legal training will be useful here as well, because some of the most important questions concern accountability, authenticity, and the boundaries between countering propaganda and protecting civil liberties. It is a delicate balance, and she has spent years preparing for it.
Her appointment comes after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Andrii Kovalenko from the position, a reminder that leadership in this area is subject to the same pressures as any other part of Ukraine’s national security apparatus. Personnel changes can be disruptive, but they also create opportunities for renewal and fresh perspectives. In Khoperia, Ukraine is getting a leader who knows the institution from the ground up, who has already been deeply involved in its most critical work, and who represents a generation of professionals who have grown up in independent Ukraine and are now defending it in the most demanding circumstances imaginable. Her story is not just a bureaucratic appointment; it is a reflection of the deep human capital that Ukraine has developed in response to crisis. Time and again, when institutions are challenged, new leaders emerge from the ranks, often unexpectedly, carrying the knowledge and credibility earned through years of service. Anait Khoperia’s rise is part of that larger narrative. She represents a quiet, determined, intelligent form of leadership that has become one of Ukraine’s greatest advantages in the war for truth and trust. As she takes on this responsibility, the challenges ahead remain formidable. Disinformation will continue to evolve, and new technologies will make it harder to detect and counter. But the appointment of someone with her background, her commitment to the rule of law, and her familiarity with the international dimension of information warfare offers a credible foundation for the difficult work to come. In the end, the fight against disinformation is a fight for the human imagination, and Ukraine has placed its trust in someone who understands how to defend it.