NEW RESOURCES

Office of the President of Ukraine: A website for targeted humanitarian aid in Ukraine has been created – President. “President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the creation of help.gov.ua website, through which anyone can provide humanitarian aid. The Head of State spoke about this in his address. According to the President, in the last two weeks alone, Ukraine has received more than 100,000 tons of humanitarian aid. These cargoes are quickly distributed through special hubs for the regions. But there are even more appeals for help.”

From the Council of the European Union: Library Guide on Ukraine. From the home page: “It provides access to relevant and authoritative resources related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This includes books and articles, podcasts and videos, databases, websites and EU publications. The selections are by no means exhaustive. Click on the tabs to browse through the resources.”

EVENTS

University of Massachusetts Amherst: UMass Amherst To Present The Public Interest Technology Symposium ‘Ukraine And Russia – The Online War’. “The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has raised many questions and concerns, including those around cybersecurity, information warfare and propaganda. How is the situation playing out online? With the shrinking of Russian cyberspace, which platforms are most central and how are different communities harnessing them? To attempt to answer these questions, UMass Amherst will present ‘Ukraine and Russia – The Online War,’ an online interdisciplinary symposium, Thursday, March 31, at 5 p.m. The 90-minute event, conducted via Zoom, is free and open to the public.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Bloomberg: Russian Search Engine Yandex Hires Advisers for Debt Talks. “The Russian tech company’s U.S. shares have been suspended for more than five trading days, enabling bondholders to ask for repayment in full. The firm has already said it doesn’t have the money to redeem the $1.25 billion bond, which is meant to be exchangeable for common stock.”

Reuters: Google to pause ads that exploit or dismiss Russia-Ukraine war. “Alphabet-owned Google will not help websites, apps and YouTube channels sell ads alongside content that it deems exploits, dismisses or condones the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the U.S. company said Wednesday.”

Bleeping Computer: Russia bans Google News for “unreliable” info on war in Ukraine. “Roskomnadzor, Russia’s telecommunications regulator, has banned Alphabet’s news aggregator service Google News and blocked access to the news.google.com domain for providing access to ‘unreliable information’ on the ongoing war in Ukraine.”

AROUND THE INTERNET WORLD

I’m not intending to index each fact check I come across, but I will include the occasional one here for context. Poynter: There is no evidence that Putin invaded Ukraine to ‘crush child traffickers’. “According to one narrative being shared on social media, Russia has a noble aim for its war against Ukraine: to end child trafficking there. ‘Putin vows to “crush” child traffickers in Ukraine,’ read what looked like a headline in a screenshot shared March 2 on Facebook. The headline came from Real Raw News, an outlet known for sharing misinformation, including a similar claim on Ukraine that PolitiFact rated False.”

Moscow Times: Google Evacuates Russian Staff Amid Fears of Closure – Bloomberg. “Google has begun evacuating its staff from Russia as the tech giant risks becoming the latest target of an unprecedented crackdown on free speech amid Moscow’s deadly invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.”

Washington Post: Want to talk? FBI trolls Russian Embassy for disgruntled would-be spies. “The FBI is trying a novel strategy to recruit Russian-speaking individuals upset about the country’s invasion of Ukraine: aiming social media ads at cellphones located inside or just outside the Russian Embassy in Washington.”

Brookings Institution: Popular podcasters spread Russian disinformation about Ukraine biolabs. “In recent weeks, Russian officials and state media have seized on a fresh piece of disinformation to justify the invasion of Ukraine: that the United States is funding the development of dangerous biological weapons in Ukraine. This claim, which has no basis in fact, has not been confined to Kremlin propaganda. Popular podcasters in the United States have repeated and promoted it for their own purposes.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

InfoSecurity Magazine: Interview: The Role of Hacktivism in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict. “Hacktivism has played a significant role in cyberspace for several years, with a range of high-profile entities targeted by hackers for political reasons. These range from governments and various other political groups for policies they disagree with to exposing privacy issues relating to manufacturers’ products. Recently, a range of individual hackers and hacktivist groups have been attracted to the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, effectively taking sides and targeting government agencies and other important organizations.”

New York Times: With Eye to Russia, Biden Administration Asks Companies to Report Cyberattacks. “A new law requires companies to tell the federal government about hacks, but the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency still has to work out the details of what must be reported.”

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