There is no way around the reality that Europe must take care of itself. This is not just a matter of a fairer distribution of burdens within NATO in terms of self-defence against an imperial Russia. For domestic political reasons, Russia is not only seeking natural resources in order to maintain its kleptocratic system. Rather, Russia needs Ukraine, as it did during the Soviet era as a system of colonisation and exploitation of Russia’s satellite states and the states of the ‘Warsaw Pact’, because of its higher level of education and innovative strength. https://europa-information.eu/en/is-the-invasion-of-ukraine-profitable-for-putin-and-his-oligarchs/
To forget these connections is to fail to understand the already existing unity between Ukraine and the European Union, which lies in their innovative strength, their pursuit of a social market economy and their shared European values.
Cooperation between the Ukrainian armed forces and the armed forces of European NATO members in training and in sharing combat experience with European weapons system trainers and manufacturers is well known and mutually beneficial.
Less attention, however, is paid to the need for the joint development of rules of engagement and a common set of values, which are mutually dependent and can prevent or overcome the traumas that are to be expected.
Operational situations such as those encountered daily in Ukraine’s defensive war cannot be simulated or practised on any military training ground, in any simulation game or in any manoeuvre. Especially in a value-oriented Europe, where the dignity of every human being (including those in the armed forces) is a high good, the training and further education of leadership personnel must be given the same high priority as that of personnel providing medical and psychological care.
The experiences of the Ukrainian armed forces are therefore also of great value here. The following article describes experiences and shows ways to improve application and implementation in this often neglected area.TH
Army Values of the Ukrainian Soldier: Its Contents and Its Assessment by Combatants
Journal of Military Ethics Article | Published Online: 28 Feb 2025
Ihor Prykhodko; Yanina Matsehora; Olexander Kolesnichenko; Anna Prikhodko; Anastasiia Bolshakova; Olena Bilyk; Viktoriia Kuzina & Dmytro Slurdenko
ABSTRACT
Army values are the corporate values of the military organization, which guide military personnel, helping them fulfill their military duty to protect national interests, and maintain the security and defense of their state. This article explores ideas about army values and their content among Ukrainian combatants. The army values that ensure the unity of Ukrainian military personnel around their chosen profession and the performance of military duty are moral and physical courage, professionalism, self-discipline, honesty, loyalty, teamwork, dignity, and fortitude. Proponents of a “corporate” military ethics prefer army values that allow for consolidating military personnel around these values, ensuring a sense of belonging to their military organization and their value base. Proponents of an “individual” military ethics are guided by army values based on personal courage and responsibility. The results of our study about army values and their structure will allow us to form and improve the military culture of military personnel, as well as their professional competence and readiness to perform their duties both in peacetime and – at the time of writing – during combat operations.-
