IGF-UA 2022 (13th Ukrainian Internet Governance Forum) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

Nine months into Russia's full-scale invasion, the 13th Ukrainian IGF (IGF-UA 2022) convened entirely by videoconference on 24–25 November 2022 — its theme, in effect, internet governance under armed aggression. The Youth IGF-UA ran the day before.
The lead section was 'Cybersecurity in Wartime'; eight sections over two days also covered Ukraine as a 'digital hub', countering internet fragmentation, dialogue with the I organisations, EU-integration obligations and decentralised internet services.*
That the national IGF was not suspended amid missile strikes and blackouts was itself the year's loudest message: the unbroken annual series running since 2010 survived wartime.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on IGF-UA 2022 (13th Ukrainian Internet Governance Forum) draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.

Conference at a Glance (from official records)

Item	Detail
Official name	IGF-UA 2022 (13th Ukrainian Internet Governance Forum)
Edition	13th edition — the year of Russia's full-scale invasion
Dates	24–25 November 2022
Venue	Online (videoconference); organised from Kyiv
Theme	Regional governance themes
Host	Internet Association of Ukraine (InAU), Commission on Science and IT of the USPP, RIPE NCC, Internews-Ukraine and Hostmaster Ltd, with the support of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Digital Transformation

(See the source list at the end of this article.)

Discussion Digest — from the Session Records

Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.

1. Cybersecurity in Wartime — Defence Moves to the Top of the Agenda

Sessions: Section 1 'Cybersecurity in Conditions of War' (24 November, 10:00, mod. I. Pietukhov, USPP)

The first IGF-UA after the full-scale invasion put wartime cybersecurity in the lead slot, with the parliamentary Digital Transformation Committee's backing framing the whole forum around internet governance under armed aggression [2][3][5]
From the first announcements the forum was planned for late autumn in online format — a mode participants could join under martial law and air-raid alerts [2][3][5]

2. Ukraine as a 'Digital Hub' — A Wartime National Digital Strategy

Sessions: Section 2 'Ukraine — A Digital Hub' (24 November, 12:00, mod. Yu. Matsyk, Ministry of Digital Transformation)

Even as infrastructure came under attack, a section moderated by the Digital Transformation Ministry debated positioning Ukraine as a regional 'digital hub' [2][1]
Keeping a digital-development agenda alive alongside wartime destruction shows recovery-oriented policy dialogue began in the invasion's first year [2][1]

3. Countering Internet Fragmentation — A Section Titled 'Defragmentation'

Sessions: Section 4 'Defragmentation of the Internet' (24 November, 16:00, mod. S. Tkachenko, Hostmaster) and Section 3 'Building the Ukrainian Internet Community within Global Processes' (14:00, mod. O. Semenyaka, RIPE NCC)

With fragmentation fears heightened worldwide by the invasion, the .ua registry's moderator led a section pointedly titled 'Defragmentation of the Internet' — undoing division rather than accepting it [2]
A companion section moderated by RIPE NCC addressed how to build and connect Ukraine's internet community within global governance processes [2]

4. Dialogue with I* Organisations, EU Obligations and Digital Rights — Day Two's International Front

Sessions: Sections 5–8 (25 November, mods. O. Prykhodko / Yu. Kargapolov / V. Moroz)

Day two ran consecutive sections on Ukraine's dialogue with the I* organisations (ICANN, RIPE NCC, ISOC and peers), Ukraine's EU Digital Single Market integration obligations, and participation in the ISOC Action Plan 2022–2023 [2][4]
The closing section, 'Users' Digital Rights and the Prospects of a Decentralised Internet', kept a universal theme on the table — decentralised services amid big-tech dominance — even in wartime [2][4]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. How could this be held during the war?

A. Entirely by videoconference. With air-raid alerts and blackouts a constant risk, there was no physical venue: Youth IGF-UA on 23 November, then the main forum on 24–25 November.

Q. What was the top topic?

A. The lead section, 'Cybersecurity in Wartime' — but a future-facing vision of Ukraine as a 'digital hub' ran alongside it, an unusual programme where defence and recovery coexisted.

Q. Why does it matter?

A. It set a precedent: a country under full-scale invasion kept its national internet-governance dialogue running. Wartime continuity of connectivity holds lessons for any country facing large-scale disruption.

What Is Ukraine IGF? (for first-time readers)

Ukraine IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.

Why It Matters to You

What was discussed here becomes the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years. The principles confirmed at the 2022 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.