Objectives:
To present the essence of multi-domain operations, with particular emphasis on the cognitive dimension, as a new domain of conflict management, referred to as cognitive warfare.

Material and methods:
Bibliometric using analysis of the content, number and citation network of publications over a specified period of time, used to assess the impact of the subject under study on the development and diffusion of knowledge in the field. The study used such bibliometric indicators as intensity and number of publications, types of published documents, keyword correlation and co-citation networks.

Results:
Cognitive warfare is one of the most serious threats facing democratic states around the world. Its asymmetrical and “lethal” power of destruction lies in the use of social media and media messages, whose scope of influence on the audience, speed of transmission and content of false information in the digital world is unlimited and without the possibility of effective verification.

Conclusions:
Undertaking a cognitive attack in the media sphere causes effects on a global scale and mainly affects young generations, leaving the attacked society in a state of unawareness of the threat. Hence, the cognitive domain is today the most dangerous form of an act of aggression, both interstate and terrorist, as currently evidenced by the full-scale war in Ukraine. The operations conducted by Russia are an example of a multi-domain operation, in which the theater of operations is land, air, sea, information and cognitive space. The hybrid nature of the operations proves that in just a few days, a relatively stable country turns into a state engulfed in an intense military conflict, in which civilians and soldiers are killed, and infrastructure and the environment are destroyed.