Researcher · Expert Source
Cybersecurity researcher and practitioner who kept Kyiv's digital infrastructure running under simultaneous cyberattacks and missile strikes.
Independent researcher · Former Director, Kyivteleservis · 2021–2024
Background
All metrics based on internal operational monitoring.
Pavlo Chernikov is an independent researcher specialising in cybersecurity, critical infrastructure resilience, and crisis governance. From 2021 to 2024, he served as Director of Kyivteleservis, the municipal IT services organisation responsible for cybersecurity, telecommunications, and digital service continuity for Kyiv city government. The organisation operated approximately 1,500 km (930 mi) of fibre network, the "Safe City" CCTV system of 8,000+ cameras, a municipal IoT LoRaWAN sensor network, a 24/7 city Security Operations Centre, and a staff of more than 80 people — collectively serving over 1,800 municipal institutions.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Chernikov led operations through sustained simultaneous cyberattacks and kinetic strikes on urban infrastructure. Under those conditions, the organisation maintained approximately 99.9% uptime across critical digital services (based on internal operational monitoring), reduced mean time to recovery for high-severity incidents from approximately 45 to 30 minutes — a reduction of around 30% — and reduced false-positive rates in SIEM alert correlation by approximately 90% through contextual enrichment. The operational experience gained during this period underpins his peer-reviewed research.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies (equivalent) from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master of Science in Public Policy (equivalent) from the Academy of Municipal Management. His peer-reviewed work has appeared in Knowledge, Education, Law, Management; Electronics and Control Systems; and Cybersecurity: Education, Science, Technique, covering SIEM scaling for urban defence, municipal IoT resilience under electronic warfare conditions, and operational crisis governance.
Research
2026
Operational Resilience of Municipal IT Infrastructure Under Active Hostilities: A Kyiv Case Study on Digital Service Continuity, Cybersecurity, and Crisis GovernanceKnowledge, Education, Law, Management, 2(78), 216–224
2026
Urban LoRaWAN Resilience under EW Interference: An Operational Model for Municipal NetworksElectronics and Control Systems, 1(87), 63–69
2025
Cyber Defense of Urban Digital Systems: Scaling SIEM Correlation to Reduce Incidents in a Wartime CityCybersecurity: Education, Science, Technique, 3(31), 773–780
Media
Topics available for comment
Ready-to-use bio
One-liner
Pavlo Chernikov is a cybersecurity researcher who led digital infrastructure protection for Kyiv's city government during the full-scale Russian invasion.
Three-liner
Pavlo Chernikov is a peer-reviewed researcher in cybersecurity and critical infrastructure resilience. As Director of Kyivteleservis (2021–2024), he maintained cybersecurity, networks, and digital services for 1,800+ Kyiv municipal institutions — including during simultaneous cyberattacks and missile strikes. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals covering SIEM operations, municipal IoT resilience under electronic warfare, and crisis governance.
Full bio
Pavlo Chernikov is an independent researcher specialising in cybersecurity, critical infrastructure resilience, and crisis governance. As Director of Kyivteleservis (2021–2024), he oversaw cybersecurity, telecommunications, and digital service continuity for over 1,800 Kyiv municipal institutions, a 24/7 city Security Operations Centre, a municipal LoRaWAN IoT sensor network, approximately 1,500 km (930 mi) of fibre infrastructure, and the “Safe City” system of 8,000+ surveillance cameras, with a team of over 80 staff. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Chernikov led operations through sustained simultaneous cyberattacks and missile strikes, maintaining approximately 99.9% uptime of critical digital services, reducing mean time to recovery for high-severity incidents by around 30% (from ~45 to ~30 minutes), and reducing SIEM false-positive rates by approximately 90% through contextual enrichment — all figures based on internal operational monitoring. He has since published peer-reviewed research covering SIEM scaling for urban cyber defence, LoRaWAN resilience under electronic warfare jamming, and operational crisis governance for wartime municipal infrastructure. Chernikov holds a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies (equivalent) from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master of Science in Public Policy (equivalent) from the Academy of Municipal Management.
Press photo available on request
Media contact
pavlo@pavlochernikov.proTypical response within 24 hours for media and research inquiries.
Available for on-record comments, background briefings, podcast and broadcast interviews, and panel participation.
Events
Available for conference presentations and panel discussions on critical infrastructure security, cyber resilience under active hostilities, and crisis governance. Topics available on request — contact pavlo@pavlochernikov.pro.
Contact
Responding to media, research, and speaking inquiries.
Chernikov, P. (2026). Operational Resilience of Municipal IT Infrastructure Under Active Hostilities: A Kyiv Case Study on Digital Service Continuity, Cybersecurity, and Crisis Governance. Knowledge, Education, Law, Management, 2(78), 216–224. https://doi.org/10.51647/kelm.2026.2.29
@article{chernikov2026kelm,
author = {Chernikov, Pavlo},
title = {Operational Resilience of Municipal {IT} Infrastructure Under Active Hostilities: A Kyiv Case Study on Digital Service Continuity, Cybersecurity, and Crisis Governance},
journal = {Knowledge, Education, Law, Management},
year = {2026},
volume = {2},
number = {78},
pages = {216--224},
doi = {10.51647/kelm.2026.2.29}
}
P. Chernikov, "Operational Resilience of Municipal IT Infrastructure Under Active Hostilities: A Kyiv Case Study on Digital Service Continuity, Cybersecurity, and Crisis Governance," Knowledge, Education, Law, Management, vol. 2, no. 78, pp. 216–224, 2026, doi: 10.51647/kelm.2026.2.29.
Chernikov, P. (2026). Urban LoRaWAN Resilience under EW Interference: An Operational Model for Municipal Networks. Electronics and Control Systems, 1(87), 63–69. https://doi.org/10.18372/1990-5548.87.20885
@article{chernikov2026lorawan,
author = {Chernikov, Pavlo},
title = {Urban {LoRaWAN} Resilience under {EW} Interference: An Operational Model for Municipal Networks},
journal = {Electronics and Control Systems},
year = {2026},
volume = {1},
number = {87},
pages = {63--69},
doi = {10.18372/1990-5548.87.20885}
}
P. Chernikov, "Urban LoRaWAN Resilience under EW Interference: An Operational Model for Municipal Networks," Electronics and Control Systems, vol. 1, no. 87, pp. 63–69, 2026, doi: 10.18372/1990-5548.87.20885.
Chernikov, P. (2025). Cyber Defense of Urban Digital Systems: Scaling SIEM Correlation to Reduce Incidents in a Wartime City. Cybersecurity: Education, Science, Technique, 3(31), 773–780. https://doi.org/10.28925/2663-4023.2025.31.1066
@article{chernikov2025siem,
author = {Chernikov, Pavlo},
title = {Cyber Defense of Urban Digital Systems: Scaling {SIEM} Correlation to Reduce Incidents in a Wartime City},
journal = {Cybersecurity: Education, Science, Technique},
year = {2025},
volume = {3},
number = {31},
pages = {773--780},
doi = {10.28925/2663-4023.2025.31.1066}
}
P. Chernikov, "Cyber Defense of Urban Digital Systems: Scaling SIEM Correlation to Reduce Incidents in a Wartime City," Cybersecurity: Education, Science, Technique, vol. 3, no. 31, pp. 773–780, 2025, doi: 10.28925/2663-4023.2025.31.1066.