The Russian invasion of Ukraine has placed extraordinary demands on collective human intelligence, testing the capacity of societies to adapt under sustained adversity. Drawing on Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences framework and the concept of Adversity Quotient (AQ), this paper explores how war-affected populations develop and express social intelligence—practical coordination, emotional regulation, and community problem-solving—in response to displacement and disruption. The analysis draws from the Life in War Survey (LIWS), a two-wave panel study conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). The first wave (18 January–8 February 2022) surveyed 1,531 respondents aged 15+ in government-controlled areas using stratified three-stage random sampling and the ESS 10 questionnaire. The second wave (24 August–6 October 2022) re-interviewed 595 panel participants via telephone, adding questions on war exposure, internal displacement, and adaptive behaviors. Results show widespread economic, psychological, and relational strains, yet also robust civic engagement, volunteering, and gradual recovery in life satisfaction and trust in institutions. When contextualized with aggregate indicators from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Humanitarian Needs Overviews and the International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (2022–early 2026), the data reveal an initial peak in displacement followed by a progressive decline, with persistent regional imbalances in eastern and southern Ukraine. These patterns illustrate how acute adversity can stimulate collective AQ and social intelligence, enabling coordinated responses despite fragmentation. For Balkan societies confronting legacies of conflict and risks of renewed instability, the Ukrainian case offers a comparative model: resilience emerges not only from survival but from the active cultivation of shared intelligence. The paper concludes with implications for policies that strengthen inclusive, community-drivenadaptation in Southeast Europe