CyberEast+, a joint project of the European Union and of the Council of Europe, together with CyberUA, a project of the Council of Europe, funded under the Action Plan for Ukraine for 2023-2026, organised on 22 and 23 September 2026 the second co-operation workshop with critical infrastructure representatives and service providers from Ukraine.

Representatives of Ukrainian law enforcement and criminal justice authorities, private sector companies and industry associations discussed practical requirements for admissibility of electronic evidence and chain of custody, with a focus on open-source intelligence (OSINT). They also examined regulatory and legal requirements for collecting and handling electronic evidence, exchanged views on mechanisms to enhance co-operation between state authorities and the private sector in the context of war crimes investigations, and concentrated their attention on the practical mechanisms of public-private co-operation. Moreover, the draft laws, currently discussed at parliamentary level, were assessed against these challenges.

The workshop also featured the presentation of the revised National Cybercrime Report for Ukraine for 2026, according to which 54% of Ukrainian citizens spend around 3-6 hours a day online and around 20% spend more than 9 hours per day. At the same time, 88% viewed cybercrime as a real, personal threat.  Moreover, around 70% of Ukrainians answered that they report serious cybercrime cases to the specialised police or to a designated hotline, which shows a high level of trust in the capacities of national authorities.

As a result of this workshop, representatives of criminal justice authorities and public sector representatives increased their knowledge on the international legal standards for collecting and handling electronic evidence.  New ways for co-operating and enhancing the exchange of information and data between public and private actors were also identified.

The CyberEast+ and CyberUA projects will continue to support Ukrainian authorities by organising dedicated capacity building activities, on the basis of the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention) and its Second Additional Protocol.

CyberEast+ project 

CyberUA project

National Cybercrime Report for Ukraine, 2026

Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention)

Second Additional Protocol to the Cybercrime Convention, on enhanced co-operation and disclosure of electronic evidence