Hybrid warfare and comprehensive defense: Lessons from Ukraine

Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has fundamentally reshaped the understanding of modern conflict. Contemporary warfare extends far beyond the battlefield and increasingly targets societies themselves — through disinformation and information warfare, cyber operations, energy coercion, economic pressure, cultural influence, and systematic attacks on democratic institutions and public trust.

Ukraine has become not only a testing ground for hybrid warfare, but a key source of practical knowledge on comprehensive defence. Under constant pressure, Ukrainian institutions and civil society have developed a whole-of-society approach that combines military preparedness with civil resilience, strategic communication, protection of critical infrastructure, and strong cooperation between state actors, media, and grassroots initiatives.

This panel brings together experts from Ukraine and EU to examine the lessons learned from Ukraine’s experience — particularly in the fields of strategic communication and civil society engagement. All over Europe, strong political leadership is needed to build on these insights in order to win broad public support and civic engagement for democratic resilience.

Speaker:

• Tamara Zlobina, Philosopher, Head of the NGO “Expert Resource Gender in Detail”
• Olga Nemanezhyna, Resilience strategist, co-author of Report "Gender Mainstreaming in Comprehensive Defense in Ukraine", SILC (Swedish International Liberal Centre).
• Dalia Bankauskaite, Security policy & strategic communication expert, Kyiv/ Riga
• Franziska Brantner, Member of Bundestag, Co-Chairperson Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen

Moderation: Iryna Shulikina, Vitsche

Registration: Café Kyiv

Language: Englisch

Jointly organised by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung und Vitsche.

Venue: 
Colosseum Berlin
Schönhauser Allee 123
10437 Berlin

Contact: 
Anna Antonina Łysiak
E lysiak@boell.de