Rescuers at the site of a Russian drone strike, Kyiv, November 7, 2024.

Photo: Yan Dobronosov

Event

Resilience and Resistance in Times of War

What are people willing to do, and to accept, when war becomes everyday life? This seminar will looks closer at civilian resilience in Ukraine and what Total Defence will ask of Norway.

15 September 2026

13:15 - 16:00 Europe/Oslo

Language: English

NUPI, Rosenkrantz' gate 22, OSLO

Seminar

Themes

Since the invasion of Ukraine began, the Russian Federation has committed grave violations of the laws of war and of human rights. These atrocities look deliberate rather than the product of battlefield chaos: tactics in a campaign to destroy the Ukrainian people, erase their culture, and undermine the principles the United Nations was founded on. The war of aggression and the erosion of international law threaten Ukraine's survival, and with it democratic Europe, Norway included.

We are living through what former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called a Zeitenwende, a turning point driven by geopolitical upheaval and a changed threat picture. Countries now have to prepare their populations for managing far more on their own.

Russia's war has shown how much a nation's capacity to resist depends on the resilience of its civilian population alongside its military strength. Ukrainians have endured immense suffering and near-constant attack over years. The strain on the armed forces is visible: too few soldiers to allow the rotations that are badly needed.

The Norwegian government has stressed that all of society, and not the military alone, must adapt to this new risk landscape, designating 2026 the Year of Total Defence. The Total Preparedness Report states that in war and other extraordinary situations, civil society must handle serious incidents largely on its own, and must accept restrictions and intrusions into private life.

This conference offers insight into life in wartime and invites debate on what people are willing to do, forced to do, and prepared to accept under such conditions. Roundtables will cover the geopolitical security situation, findings on mental health in times of war from recent research by Université de Montréal and the Human Rights Research League, and how the demands of Total Defence can be squared with life in an open society.

A photo exhibition, Ukraine: Daily Resistance, accompanies the event. Ukrainian photojournalist Yan Dobronosov has documented both the front lines and civilian life since Russia's full-scale invasion began. His images set the stage for the discussions.

This event is co-organized by the Human Rights Research League and NUPI.

REGISTER FOR THE EVENT HERE!

Program:

13:15 Exhibition: Ukraine: Daily Resistance - Coffee & Tea
13:40 Seminar opening and welcome
13:45 The New Geopolitical Security Situation after Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine