Russia is using cognitive warfare—a form of warfare that focuses on influencing the opponent’s reasoning, decisions, and actions—to secure strategic objectives that are unattainable through its physical capabilities alone. It is not the only country to do so. China, Iran, and North Korea increasingly use cognitive warfare against the United States, too. But Russia has proven especially adept at using it to aid in its war against Ukraine, shape Western decisions, preserve President Vladimir Putin’s regime, and mask Russia’s weaknesses. Cognitive warfare is not the Kremlin’s only warfighting strategy. Nonetheless, it is vital to understand the Kremlin’s effort to try to make the world see things as Moscow wishes us to—and for us then make decisions in that Kremlin-generated reality.