Decolonial cyberwarfare: Ukrainian digital sovereignty and corporate power

Historically targeted by some of the most destructive cyberattacks on record, Ukraine has, since
the Russian full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, received considerable support from powerful
foreign corporations – including Microsoft, Starlink, Palantir, Google, Amazon, Huawei, or Clearview
AI. Current Western research tends to emphasise the Ukrainian state’s dependence on Western
tech giants for its continued survival. Yet this assumes Ukraine to be a powerless victim between
Russian imperialism and an insidious corporate colonialism, rather than a country striving, through
technology, to carve its own place on a turbulent international stage.
This research project puts the spotlight on Ukrainian cyber actors, public and private, and how they
build their own country's sovereignty in a context of full-scale war (including cyber) and deep
involvement from foreign tech giants. By working on the ground in Ukraine, this project will study
original Ukrainian understandings of digital sovereignty, a concept which recently became a
cornerstone of EU foreign policy.