Ukraine’s Toughest Fight: The Challenge of Military Reform

Ukraine was undertaking comprehensive reform of its armed forces, necessitated by conflict in the east of the country since 2014. The combat-hardened army now fighting in the Donbas region bears little resemblance to the one that suffered heavy losses when fighting with Russian-backed separatists first broke out in 2014.

The country’s armed forces were larger and better equipped than ever before, numbering 200,000 active-service military personnel. The military budget was set to rise by more than one-quarter in 2018. And, just as importantly, morale had improved.

However, major problems remained, all of which stemmed from Ukraine’s internal political struggles and the continuing weakness of state structures. They included:

+ lack of internal coordination between structures
+ lack of civilian and parliamentary oversight of the armed forces
+ incomplete integration of volunteers into the regular army
+ impunity and abusive behavior in the conflict zone
+ and systemic corruption and nontransparency of budgets, especially in the Ukroboronprom state-owned defense-industry monopoly.

• Primary Source

French Institute of International Relations (IFRI): IFRI Policy Paper Notes du Cefra, No.101 [May 2017]: Reforming Ukrainian Defense: No Shortage of Challenges http://www.europeansources.info/record/reforming-ukrainian-defense-no-shortage-of-challenges/

Carnegie Europe: Ukraine Reform Monitor: Reforming Ukraine http://www.europeansources.info/record/reforming-ukraine/

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