Everyone is talking about AI. Ukraine is reminding us what really wins.

Ukrainian commanders have been losing manpower at a rate that’s almost impossible to replace, despite 30 000 new soldiers being mobilised a month. As a frame of reference the British Army is currently around 74 000 regular soldiers in total. This has been combined with the inability to safely rotate troops due to Russian drone and artillery strikes. Soldiers who spend more than 40 consecutive days on the front line are significantly less effective. Some Ukrainian troops have been on the front lines for more than 200 days. The perception amongst volunteers is that service is a suicide mission which creates desertion during training. At the start of 2026 over 200 000 soldiers were deemed to be absent. The training has been inadequate and combined with a lack of sense of belonging has helped to drive this.

How have they turned the tide? They’ve invested in the people. Since the middle of 2025 the Ukrainian forces have created a distinct pathway for recruits. They are being trained by the soldiers who will lead and serve alongside them on the front line. This ensures that the standard of training increases as the trainers have a vested interest in delivering effective training i.e. they will be fighting alongside each other! A much greater sense of belonging is being created and the cases of desertion are already reducing. At the same time much clearer communication has been delivered coupled with specific terms of service. This creates clear operational lanes to operate in. Operationally the Ukrainian forces have started to shake up the traditional deployment models creating much greater collaboration. Rather than deploying units as singular assets, groups are being created enabling units to fight and defend themselves unilaterally. These groups are recruiting and training together. Russian officers promoted in the field not trained - thinking tactically not strategically

Lack of ability to understand objectives and orders at the same time as being encouraged to report success up creates a distorted reality. On the other side of the conflict Russian forces are taking equally high casualties. This is resulting in them having to promote officers in the field. There is nothing new in this but it’s creating leadership problems. These newly promoted officers are relatively inexperienced and they’re thinking tactically not strategically. This lack of ability to understand objectives and orders at the same time as being encouraged to report success up creates a distorted reality at a command level for Russia.

So what: In this age of developing AI, increased automation and technology it’s still people and effective communication that hold the key to overall success. Whilst the ability to work remotely can unlock productivity in some organisations a strong sense of belonging and direction are what enable resilience. Organisations need to invest in the latest technology and integrate AI into their systems but mustn’t do this at the expenses if investing in their people. The Ukrainians are teaching us that creating more effective communication and a strong sense of team are proving critical to building and sustaining a resilient organisation. The technology is adapting and evolving but core human behaviours remain constant and arguably more important.