From Soviet Shadows to Digital Eyes: Civilian Participation and the Transformation of State Surveillance in Ukraine Through the Lens of Foucauldian Discipline and Control

Abstract

Since gaining independence in 1991, Ukraine has undergone a profound transformation in the nature of state surveillance, shaped by its Soviet legacy, digital innovation, and intensifying conflict with Russia. The widespread adoption of smartphones, social media platforms, and open-source intelligence (OSINT) tools has enabled civilians to become direct contributors to surveillance processes, thereby reshaping traditional power relations between the state and its population. This participatory transformation has become particularly pronounced following the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the full-scale invasion in 2022, both of which significantly intensified Ukraine’s reliance on surveillance technologies under the rationale of national defence. Through smartphone-based reporting, social media activism, and grassroots war crime documentation, civilians now play a pivotal role in intelligence gathering and open-source investigations of alleged human rights violations. This study employs a qualitative methodology--combining historical analysis, case study research, and reviews of legislative and technological developments--to examine the evolution of Ukraine’s surveillance apparatus. The analysis is grounded in Michel Foucault’s theory of disciplinary power, and supplemented by Gilles Deleuze’s concept of “societies of control” and Haggerty and Ericson’s “surveillant assemblage”. These theoretical lenses reveal a hybrid structure where remnants of centralized, top-down monitoring persist alongside emerging decentralized, data-driven modalities influenced by growing civilian engagement.