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Ukraine at War: How to mobilize the people for war?
Seminar 28 October 2025. In the fourth year of fighting against Russia’s full-scale invasion, questions of mobilisation and public resilience are more urgent than ever.
As Ukraine has entered its fourth year of full-scale war, one particularly pressing theme is mobilisation policy and the growing risk of war-weariness among Ukrainians.
Ukraine’s biggest strength has rested on the resilience and motivation of its population, despite being outnumbered by its adversary. Russia, with over 100 million more inhabitants, can draw on a far larger recruitment base, even if its soldiers’ training and morale remain low.
What are Ukraine’s and Russia’s strategies for mobilizing conscripts and recruiting volunteers to their armed forces? How have these strategies changed as the war has progressed?
For Ukraine – how may the country manage to keep the fight going in view of the massive demographic imbalance in Russia’ favour?
This seminar offers expert insights into how mobilisation policies in both countries have developed and what they mean for the course of the conflict.
Programme
00:00:05 Welcome and introduction
Professor Sven G. Holtsmark, NDUC Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS)
00:06:21 Defending Survival: Mobilization in Ukraine – From National Policies to Individual Decisions
Oleksandra Deineko, researcher, OsloMet/IFS
00:37:14 Recruiting for the war against Ukraine and confrontation with Europe: Russia’s covert mobilization, strategic reserve and reaching out to the next generatio
Margarete Klein, Dr. phil. and Head of the SWP‘s research group on Eastern Europe and Eurasia
About the seminar series Ukraine at War
What challenges does Ukraine face in fighting against Russia’s war of aggression? What domestic political challenges does the country encounter, how resilient is public support for the war, and how are Ukraine's defence and security policies evolving?
To shed light on these questions, the Programme for Ukraine and Full-Spectrum Threats is hosting the seminar series “Ukraine at War", which explores different aspects of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
