Safeguarding the Digital Landscape: Online Opportunities & Threats for Displaced Ukrainians

CSIS Report By Abigail Edwards, Ángeles Zúñiga & Erol Yayboke

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it sparked the largest and quickest mass displacement of people since the Second World War.

Ukrainians often left their homes with only the clothes on their backs and a small bag—an all-too-common experience in a world experiencing record high levels of forced displacement.

Yet, unlike many other displaced populations, almost all Ukrainians were able to bring their smartphones, a near-unmatched level of tech savviness, and supportive, tightly woven online networks.

This connectivity has presented new opportunities to assist vulnerable people; it has also put those same vulnerable people face-to-face with new online threats that can translate into very real physical danger.

Read the full digital report here.