Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine has precipitated the largest and most destructive conflict in Europe since World War II, yet traditional notions of linear battlefields and clearly delineated combatants no longer apply. Russia’s widespread use of drones, precision-guided munitions, digital disinformation, ecocide, and systematic attacks on civilian infrastructure has dispersed the risk of death and injuries across the entire Ukrainian population. The close proximity of major population centers to active combat, the large proportion of Ukrainians mobilized as military personnel or first responders, and the persistent threat of drone and missile strikes further blur distinctions between combatants and noncombatants. The U.S. military is incorporating strategic and tactical lessons from this conflict into its doctrine for large-scale combat operations (LSCO) with near peer adversaries, including revised approaches to battlefield healthcare and combat stress control. This case study examines current wartime conditions in Ukraine from a psychological perspective, identifies shared and unique war stressors among Ukrainian military personnel and civilians, and discusses Ukraine’s actions to mitigate these stressors. The analysis synthesizes peer-reviewed research, governmental and non-governmental reports, technical documents, news media reports, and field observations. Current U.S. doctrine for managing combat stress has a relatively narrow focus, emphasizing actions at the military unit level. In contrast, the Ukrainian experience illustrates the need for a whole-of-society approach for LSCO level warfare. Insights from Ukraine offer critical understanding of the psychological demands of LSCO and can inform future U.S. doctrine, training, and policies for high-intensity conflict.
Kolcio et al. (Thu,) studied this question.