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Afghanistan and other war-torn countries have shown that conflict doesn't need to stifle the progress of a country's Internet.

On February 24, 2022, Russia began a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, disrupting Internet services around the country. As the war unfolded, Internet infrastructure was damaged, power plants were destroyed and cell towers in some cities were torn down by Russian missiles, cutting off mobile connectivity to many Ukrainians. Yet, the Internet in Ukraine remained surprisingly resilient.

Any network or routes disappearing from the global routing table portrays a grave picture because these are not just networks or IP addresses.

Once infrastructure denial is in play, its use to enforce international sanctions is in play as well.

2022 will be remembered as a year in which conflicts and crises shaped our collective attitudes toward infrastructure and the Internet in interesting ways.

The last two months have seen huge rollouts of IPv6 technology at the Ukrainian ISP Kyivstar and the satellite Internet operator Starlink.