Crowdsourced Resistance

How an internet-driven defense and support unit is helping Ukraine

With Russia invading Ukraine our world is changing in a massive, still quite unpredictable way - yet again. And while I am no war or geopolitics expert, I do wanna use this platform to raise awareness about the horrible things happening in Ukraine, Russia, and Europe these days.

Before we explore some new perspectives, please do (!) check out this crowdsourced list that will direct you to lots of amazing initiatives that you can donate to: 🇺🇦 Help Ukraine. The people in Ukraine and those fleeing need our help! Give whatever you can!

Thank you!

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Crowdsourced Resistance 🇺🇦

While reading about the horrible war in Ukraine, seeing refugees arrive in Berlin and staying updated on the latest developments via social media, I realized that there is something new happening here. With social media and the internet, we are not only more than ever connected to this war, but we are also more than ever capable and empowered to use these digital tools in order to share important information and expertise, raise awareness, and help out in innovative ways.

This is a completely new world where ordinary people are able to act as a sort of internet-driven defense and support unit, aiding people on the ground in Ukraine. Let’s explore some of these initiatives - a few of these come from an amazing thread by Whitney Merrill, so do check her Twitter out. And don’t hesitate to share any of the tweets and initiatives below with your network to raise even more awareness about them.

So here we go:

Booking Ukrainian Airbnb’s to Support Their Hosts with Donations Directly

IG: @quentin.quarantino @quentquarantino

Yesterday I shared an idea to support Ukraine by booking rooms for rent on AirBNB. 24 hours later, 100's of people are booking AirBnBs in Ukraine as a way to send immediate monetary assistance to people in hard-hit areas. The messages in response from the hosts are so moving

Volunteers Documenting the War on Wikipedia

Samuel Breslow @sdkb42

Volunteer editors on #Wikipedia have been documenting the Russian invasion of #Ukraine as it unfolds. A look behind the scenes of breaking news editing: 🧵

Tinder Being Used to Expose Russian Soldiers’ Locations And Intel

douglas chu 鞠一道 @douglaschu_

russian soldiers trying to match on tinder with women from the country they’re invading and then getting catfished for intel is such a weird “we live in the future” moment

Real-time Fact-Checking of War Footage

Uzair Rizvi @RizviUzair

Thread: Misinformation being circulated about #UkraineRussiaConflict on social media.

➖Dustin Miller➖💙💛 @spdustin

@GeorgeToumanof @OlgaNYC1211 The photo of “paratroopers over Kiev” you’re referring to is actually just showing internal reflections (“lens flares”) from street lights.

Bellingcat @bellingcat

Given the sheer volume of content being posted online, we're partnering with @Cen4infoRes to help verify and map incidents. The map can be accessed here:

maphub.netRussia-Ukraine Monitor Map by Cen4infoRes · MapHubThe Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map is a crowdsourced effort by Centre for Information Resilience (https://twitter.com/Cen4infoRes), Bellingcat, Mnemonic, Conflict Intelligence Team and the wider open source community to map, document and verify significant incidents during the conflict in Ukraine. The…

Great Article About The Rise of OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) Communities

“OSINT researchers use information freely accessible to anyone, which can include security video feeds and satellite imagery. The community trades tips on where to find information and how to analyze it for identifiable markers like geolocation tags and serial numbers. After using this data to trace anything from military activity to arms flows, researchers publish their findings on social media platforms like Discord, Twitter, and Facebook.”

“[…] while Ukraine is not the first social media war, the conflict has allowed OSINT research to explode into the public consciousness.”

President Zelensky Using His Platform and Internet Meme Skills

Nick Schifrin @nickschifrin

The mic tap is the new mic drop. @ZelenskyyUa trolls Putin. (H/t @v_solohub)

Christopher Miller @ChristopherJM

Day 12 of Russia’s full-on invasion of Ukraine. Where’s President Zelensky? “I’m staying in Kyiv. In my office. I’m not hiding. And I’m not afraid of anyone.” The comic turned president has truly become a wartime leader.

Lots of Crowdsourced Translations & Re-Edits of Footage, Including This One That Went Viral

Alex Kliment @SaoSasha

went and translated that zelensky selfie video from the streets of kyiv, just to know what he was actually saying in response to the russian reports that he had fled -- so here it is for the rest of you, plus this music naturally felt right. enjoy.

Advice on How to Jam Russian Military Radio

EllenFromNowOn @ellenfromnowon

the radio hams jamming russian military radio communications right now seem to be having fun with it, which is excellent news

Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation is Crowdsourcing a Cyber Army

Mykhailo Fedorov @FedorovMykhailo

We are creating an IT army. We need digital talents. All operational tasks will be given here: t.me/itarmyofurraine. There will be tasks for everyone. We continue to fight on the cyber front. The first task is on the channel for cyber specialists.

t.meitarmyofurraineYou can view and join @itarmyofurraine right away.

Ukrainian Tech Collective Enables Foreign Tech Talent To Cover for Ukrainian Software Developers

Urban Warfare Advice by Chair of Urban Warfare Studies

John Spencer @SpencerGuard

So I've been asked what my advice would be to civilian resistors in Ukriane, especially Kyiv. Someone with no military training but wanting to resist. Here are a few things #Kyiv #UkraineUnderAttack :

TikToks Teaching Ukrainians How To Drive Russian Tanks

Whitney Merrill @wbm312

Using tiktok to teach folks how to drive abandoned Russian tanks:

Ukraine Government Sets Up Hotline for Russian Soldiers’ Families

Ukrainian Hobby Drone Enthusiasts Use Drones As Reconnaissance Tools

Crowdsourced Intelligence Gathering via GitHub

Will @BushidoToken

@Cyberknow20 Please feel free to borrow from or contribute to @CuratedIntel's project doing this already. I am updating as close to real-time as I can

github.comGitHub - curated-intel/Ukraine-Cyber-Operations: Curated Intelligence is working with analysts from around the world to provide useful info…Curated Intelligence is working with analysts from around the world to provide useful information to organisations in Ukraine looking for additional free threat intelligence. Slava Ukraini. Glory t...

People Put Twitter Lists Of On The Ground Reporters And War Experts Together

Daniel Dale @ddale8

Here’s a partial list of reporters on the ground and others who know what they’re talking about. https://t.co/jcixvK2O13

Naval @naval

It’s happening. https://t.co/VTdEkq8zQO

Russian Influencers Speak Out & Share The Truth

Dr. Ian Garner @irgarner

You might have read about Yury Dud, the popular Russian blogger, speaking out against the war. 5 million followers, and look at what he's sharing at the top of his Instagram page: strong stuff.

Call Russia, an Initiative Enabling Foreigners to Connect with Russians via Telephone Calls

CallRussia @callrussia

Make the most important call of your life. Russian speakers around the world connecting with Russians may be our only way around Putin's propaganda. We have a duty to try. Visit CallRussia.org to make the call. #CallRussia #StandWithUkraine #Ukraine #Peace #NoToTheWar

Donations via Crypto NFTs and DAOs

“As of Saturday [March 5th] morning, Ukraine has received $57 million in cryptocurrency donations to aid its defense against Russia, according to blockchain tracker Elliptic.”

Alona | Ukraine DAO (🇺🇦,🇺🇦) @cryptodrftng

Absolutely love this article by @readDanwrite for @decryptmedia. Thank you for this great coverage of @Ukraine_DAO - this is excellent journalism. #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦❤️ decrypt.co/94386/ukraine-…

decrypt.coWhat DAOs Can Do: $6.75M in Ethereum for Ukraine - DecryptCrypto donations for Ukraine have included funds from DAOs and NFT sales, showing how quickly the Web3 community can mobilize around a cause.

Mykhailo Fedorov @FedorovMykhailo

The Crypto Fund of Ukraine raised $50M in crypto in a week to support #Ukraine 👊🏻 An incredible unity before Putin's encroachment on freedom and democracy. Aiming for $100M this week. We WILL win! 🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine

Using Google Reviews to Hack Russia’s Propaganda And Disseminate the Truth to People in Russia

Anonymous @YourAnonNews

Go to Google Maps. Go to Russia. Find a restaurant or business and write a review. When you write the review explain what is happening in Ukraine. Idea via @Konrad03249040

Hackers Can Win $100k In A Hackathon To Help Expose Russian Software Vulnerabilities

Yegor Aushev @Yegor_au

🩸🇺🇦 March 1st, 2022 at 4 am , we declare the start of the special operation “ ̶f̶u̶c̶k̶ HACK RUSSIA”. Report bugs it to the following email: bb.glorytoukraine@gmail.com CyberUnitTech will donate 100 000$ Wallet for donation / usdt trc20: THTCwoLQ4dg5uzLLPyaUSbB1x8rYKFAPA3

Tracking Russian Oligarchs’ Private Planes & Yachts

Scott Bixby @scottbix

For no reason, here are some yachts owned by Russian billionaires and their current locations.

Russian Oligarch Jets @RUOligarchJets

Leonard Blavatnik's Jet N600EB Landed in London, England, GB. Apx. flt. time 13 Mins.

Jack Sweeney @JxckSweeney

Now I've set up @RussiaYachts not automated yet but we'll be keeping watch and posting updates.

Russian Yachts @RussiaYachts

Keeping watch on these Russian's Yacht's https://t.co/BaZQeNyyKB

There is of course much more than the above… And new internet-driven initiatives to help Ukraine are popping up every day.

It’s a new world! A world in which ordinary people increasingly come together on social media and use it in novel ways to defend those being oppressed and attacked. It’s about leveraging the attention economy for good: using the addictiveness, the virality, the connectedness, the visual power, the borderlessness, and the speed of social media and the internet to help out.

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That’s it for this week. If you missed some of my earlier posts, just click here to see all of them.

And again, please consider donating to 🇺🇦 Help Ukraine!

See you next week!