“A Soldier Is Not Just a Tally in a Report”
Ukraine entered the fourth year of Russia’s full—scale invasion with a sense of deep emotional upheaval. U.S. President Donald Trump, who during his election campaign had promised to end the war within 24 hours, launched an active negotiation process with Russia just weeks after his inauguration. In his rhetoric, the aggressor came across almost as a victim — a message that shocked not only Ukrainians but also many European leaders. Meanwhile, Russia has not ceased its offensive for a single day: it continues to shell cities and villages, kill civilians, and commit war crimes. Ukraine’s army lacks both manpower and weapons. Yet hundreds of thousands of citizens continue to defend the country and destroy the enemy. New leaders are streamlining clumsy army structures, assuming responsibility for the areas they lead. The Ukrainian School of Political Studies (USPS) spoke with three of its alumni who are currently fighting at the front. They shared what matters most when leading people in combat and what they are feeling at this stage of the war. The first to speak is Andrii Pysarenko, commander of a mortar battery in the Da Vinci Wolves Battalion.
Lawyer Andrii Pysarenko joined the volunteer movement in 2014. He fought in Pisky near the Donetsk airport. Later, he became an instructor, training new volunteers. Afterwards, he returned to his legal practice until rejoining the front in 2022, this time for the full—scale war. Together with his comrades from the Honour volunteer unit, Pysarenko had even prepared for a partisan war, should the situation unfold according to the worst—case scenario. In 2022, following the battles in the Kyiv region, the unit was integrated into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It proved itself in the Donetsk region — in Sviatohirsk, Bakhmut, Siversk, and Soledar — as well as in the Kharkiv region, where it took part in the liberation operation in 2022.
Commander of a mortar battery in the Da Vinci Wolves battalion and a 2023 graduate of the Ukrainian School of Political Studies, Andrii Pysarenko, is currently fighting in one of the most intense sectors — the Pokrovsk direction.
“I have extensive experience working and fighting directly with foreigners — NATO army veterans who came to fight alongside us. I had to command them, but in truth, I learned more from them than they did from me. Here, the main measure of combat effectiveness is the number of enemy vehicles and personnel destroyed. But in fact, by NATO standards, the most important thing in any mission is the preservation of your personnel.”
“In NATO armies, a soldier can ask any question of a higher—ranking officer. A mission must be discussed from all angles, and all information must be communicated to the troops. Thanks to these questions from soldiers, a commander can identify what might have been overlooked — maybe a backup means of communication wasn’t provided, or evacuation points weren’t finalised, or the logistics for delivering ammunition to the firing positions weren’t thought through, or simply the amount of food and drinking water wasn’t properly calculated. All this information must come from the bottom up.”
“I like this kind of organisation because a commander must communicate with their personnel. It’s not just about shouting ‘forward, forward!’ — it’s about explaining the overall plan: what we’re doing, why, and what we aim to achieve. If I send infantry to take up a position, I tell them that the task isn’t just to go there and sit for three days. I explain, for example, that this is to secure the left flank of an advance on a particular settlement, to prevent the enemy from outflanking us. And I tell them that in support of this mission, aerial reconnaissance is working for them, as are our heavy weapons, machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars and tube artillery, strike drones, and support units. Then the soldier understands the role they play — they are not just a tally mark in a report. They trust the commander because they know the information is truthful. A commander’s responsibility should not be just on paper — it must be personal, with real care for the most valuable resource: the soldier carrying out the mission in the field.”
“The most terrible thing in the army is having to call a soldier’s family to tell them he’s been killed — and hearing someone lose their mind on the other end of the line. I’ve had to do that many times. And you have to go on living with it.”
“Once, in Soledar in 2022, we came under artillery fire. It didn’t hit our building, but the one next to us, where a family of civilians was staying. A stunned and terrified old man came running to us. In the summer kitchen lay a wounded woman — her torso and hips were torn apart, she had multiple shrapnel wounds, but she was still alive. I would never have forgiven myself if we hadn’t tried to evacuate her. So, we pulled a vehicle out from the shelter, drove it up to the house. Everything around was open; the enemy could see it all. We barely managed to load her in and then raced out of Soledar under fire. From the moment of the strike to handing her over to the medevac team took 15 minutes, then she was transported to the hospital in Bakhmut. She died anyway. The next day, the brother—in—arms who helped me with the evacuation said he couldn’t go back to work. It hit him hard, psychologically. Because it’s brutal — seeing a human body torn apart right in front of you. I gave him the day off. Even though our company commander asked me why, we didn’t have the time to rest, the combat intensity was very high.”
“Sometimes the orders we receive are based on general metrics, without regard for the actual situation on the ground. But we’re talking about real soldiers here, people with families. The task of a commander — their professionalism — is not about showing defiance to higher command but about proposing the most effective way to complete a mission while preserving personnel. And usually, that’s supported. If you criticise, propose. If you propose — execute. If you execute — well done!”
“The motivation system is one of the most important aspects in the military. For example, soldiers are hugely motivated when the commander appears at the firing positions. Our fallen battalion commander, Da Vinci [Dmytro Kotsiubailo], personally led assaults. Our current commander, Filia [Serhii Filimonov], is constantly at the front line. The troops understand that the tasks being given to them are the same ones the commanders would take on themselves.”
“The front is so dynamic that one moment we’re mortar crews, and fifteen minutes later we’re infantry. Not long ago, we had a case in the Pokrovsk sector. One of the brigades — our neighbours to the right — collapsed. They let an enemy armoured group slip through. It drove through our village and only stopped in the next one. The first group of Russians engaged in a firefight with our drone operators. The drone pilots became infantry, and our mortar crew switched to perimeter defence. But everyone was ready, and the enemy group was wiped out. The IFV that made it to the next village was stopped and captured as a trophy by our FPV drones. We were preparing to move into that village from the rear to surround the enemy group, but we didn’t have to, because our drone guys handled it. After the battle, I debriefed the situation with all the fighters, especially focusing on perimeter defence tactics: holding sectors, managing contact, conserving ammunition, tracking the enemy, maintaining communication with command, staying aware of the overall situation, and using communication tools. We decided that every position must be stocked with additional ammunition, meaning basic rounds and hand grenades. It doesn’t matter who’s holding the line — infantry, drone operators, or mortar crews — they must have enough.”
“The biggest problem in the army right now is a lack of personnel. Everything revolves around that. In Krasnohorivka in July 2024, I was manning a mounted grenade launcher — even though I’m a mortar battery commander — because there was no one else. We have weapons, we have shells, but we don’t have enough people, and those we do have still need to be trained. There’s another army—wide issue: combat—experienced units are not being equipped with the latest hardware. Poor decisions can’t be compensated for by soldiers’ bravery. When a newly formed, uncoordinated brigade was immediately sent to the hottest part of the Pokrovsk sector, it was doomed from the start. Sure, they had Bradleys and Leopards. But if we had those Bradleys — we’d have stirred up a storm!”
“FPV drones emerged on the battlefield because of the shortage of artillery shells. In 2022–2023, there was a huge technological leap in their use. But the Russians took our idea, scaled it, and turned it into mass production. A drone doesn’t kill on its own — the explosive device has to work. The improvised explosive that’s mounted on the drone is made, at each unit’s own risk, by its in—house workshop. The enemy, however, is being mass—produced by the state. We have better solutions, better operators — everything we have is better. But we don’t have the scale. Our defence industry should become the most attractive sector for investment, and that means removing all the barriers for ammunition producers.”
“There is no politics in the army — and there won’t be. We don’t think about elections. That conversation is not relevant now. There will be no demobilisation, either. We don’t talk about it, we don’t promise anything, we don’t offer false hope. I tell our guys: ‘You’re not service members. You’re soldiers — you’re defenders.’ Because in a great war for independence, you don’t serve — you protect. This is the cause of the entire Ukrainian people, and it is an honourable duty.”
“In 2022, in an empty Kyiv, people viewed military uniforms differently. Now, some even show fear when they see someone in uniform. But that doesn’t concern me — those are psychological issues for civilians to deal with. What I care about is my personnel: their supplies, the possibility of rotation, and recovery. Civilians need to adapt to the reality that this war will last. In war, there must be a victor and a defeated — and who that will be depends only on us. The morale and psychological state of my unit is among the highest, as is our readiness to carry out combat missions. So, at this stage of the war, what I would say to the military is: ‘I’m proud of you.’ And to the civilians: ‘I believe in you.’”
