Against the Fog of War: How Ukrainians Harness Technology to Fight the Enemy
Today, war is all-encompassing. The familiar conflict space on land, in the air, and at sea has expanded to include the cyber domain. By comprehensively undermining information security, the cyberspace dimension of war simultaneously undermines the state’s ability to sustain resistance. As one of the heroes of the special project, Artem Starosek, wisely puts it, “If the war in kinetic space eventually comes to an end, the war in cyberspace will never end because it has no time frame and no borders.”
How can we adapt and simultaneously create a new digital reality while protecting Ukraine’s information space from Russian threats?
The material features the stories of four experts on digitalisation and cyber resilience — Yehor Aushev, Serhii Khariuk, Artem Starosiek, and Artem Romaniukov. It highlights the efforts of individuals who are using technology to bring victory closer and change approaches to warfare. The stories were recorded by Kristina Berdinskykh for The Ukrainians and USPS.
Who is fighting in cyberspace?
Yegor Aushev, co-founder and CEO of Cyber Unit Technologies, USPS graduate of 2016, and Serhii Khariuk, founder and CEO of AmonSul, USPS graduate of 2023, talk about the links in the chain of cyber resilience.
The stories of the first experts are closely related to the evolution of digital warfare. Both with and against the enemy. The digital dimension of war is constantly changing. While at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia chaotically used cyberattacks, today we see a steady trend towards cyber operations, a set of strategic actions that have a long-term impact. Accordingly, Ukraine — whether as a state, a business, or an individual citizen — must adapt, as “every person in Ukraine is a link in the chain of cyber resilience.”
Digital resilience is a rare phenomenon in its understanding. It is so scalable that no government agency or department can guarantee equal security for everyone in this fluid space. However, the state can set trends. It can start building effective inter-institutional cooperation and, most importantly, cooperation with businesses or individuals already linked in a strong cyber defense chain. Setting trends to become an example for the world in the future.
Weapons from open sources
How to collect dossiers on enemies and war criminals? Artem Starosiek, founder and CEO of the OSINT agency Molfar, USPS graduate of 2023, explains.
Artem Starosiek is convinced that “90% of information about the war is currently gathered from open sources”. This means that not only are new approaches to warfare emerging, such as cyberattacks or cyber operations, but intelligence is also changing significantly. The practice of OSINT is becoming particularly effective for Ukraine. However, the use of open-source intelligence is not just about preparing for or directly supporting military operations. Since the OSINT agency Molfar began creating dossiers on enemies and war criminals who abducted Ukrainian children, and abused prisoners of war or civilians, this practice has become a kind of “tool of justice.”
OSINT is both a weapon and a tool for restoring justice. A tool that helps document a crime and preserve it in memory so that later, the identified criminals cannot escape just punishment.
Changes plus
Through the third story, we meet Artem Romaniukov, an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Head of the Digital Transformation Directorate of the Ministry of Defence, USPS graduate of 2018.
Artem’s contribution to changing approaches to warfare lies in the digitalisation of the Ukrainian army. From Artem’s personal experience, significant paperwork and excessive bureaucracy in the military only worsened communication with the leadership. The creation of tools such as Army+, Reserve+, and Oberih (electronic service systems for the army) are clear and visible signals of the transformation of Ukraine’s digital military space. Like any significant changes, Army+, Reserve+, and Oberih face sometimes justified, sometimes not-so-justified criticism. However, these mechanisms have already been launched. And they are already showing their effectiveness.
The common thread in the three stories is the question of each person’s resilience. Without a doubt, we must consider and always remember that the vulnerability of Ukraine’s digital space reflects the vulnerability of each of us — and our enemy is fully aware of this. So, let’s not make their job easier.
We invite you to learn more about the cyber resilience special project “Against the Fog of War” on The Ukrainians website — via the link below.
Photography by Valentyna Polishchuk, Danylo Pavlov.
