Documenting Russia’s war against Ukraine:
The challenges of living archives for historical knowledge production.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the events have been documented in real-time through the contributions of various actors. Chat messages, social media posts, geo-referenced satellite images, witness interviews, and photo documentation have become central to research these events. As a result, community oriented “living archives” emerge on a high scale. Some characteristics are the contribution in real-time, their multimedial nature and their initiation by a shared, widespread experience. These archives present new challenges for researchers, such as ethical considerations in handling sensitive data, access regulations, power asymmetries between creators, users, and curators, as well as the archive’s potential to retraumatize in the context of war.

The project “Documenting Russia’s war against Ukraine” (LivArch) aims to connect actors that are collecting and preserving such documentation, enriching their archives and sources while addressing complex ethical issues surrounding responsible representation, publication, reuse, and long-term archiving. Through scholarships and exchange formats, the project fosters equitable collaboration across national borders, disciplinary boundaries, traditional research, and participatory approaches.

LivArch focusses on transnational cooperation and contributes to the development of historical research in the digital age and generating insights possibly applicable to similar conflict situations in the 21st century. At its core is a commitment to the duty to care for the source and the integrity of their producers.