This paper examines the impact of military morale in the Russian war in Ukraine, where a smaller state confronts a vastly superior adversary with significantly greater military capabilities. Military morale, defined as the willingness to fight and follow orders, plays a crucial role in offsetting disparities in military strength. The thesis finds that political regime, government legitimacy, fair treatment of citizens, and clear communication of war objectives to combatants are critical determinants of high military morale. The case study of Russia's and Ukraine's approaches to sustaining their military morale and undermining the opponent's morale offers insights into the events, tactics, and strategies that contributed to varying levels of morale and their impact on battlefield outcomes. The analysis of available interviews with captured Russian soldiers revealed that the Russian government uses deception and coercion to mobilize individuals who do not fully understand their role in the conflict, which lowers their morale. The thesis also identifies that propaganda and information are essential tools to increase one's chances of success on the battlefield. The outcome of this paper is policy recommendations for the Ukrainian government on how to sustain military morale and take advantage of it in the course of war. These policies include softer mobilization, involving individual foreign fighters, extended military leadership training, a bottom-up communication approach, and mandatory mental health/resilience military training. These policies may also benefit other small states facing aggression from larger adversaries, enhancing their resilience and maximizing the psychological advantages of high morale.
Olha Droniak (2025) studied this question.