The event was opened by the Program Director Helena Savruk: "Today, traditional military confrontation has been supplemented by multidimensional competition in the 'gray zone', marked by sub-threshold challenges — the aggressor's ability to non-linearly and systematically strike at vulnerabilities far beyond the military sphere. Now we must act proactively, forging our own path and standing shoulder to shoulder with a global network of strategic partners. We must be able to navigate at new speeds, building a wide range of capabilities of a fundamentally different level with a long-term projection of influence, development, and prosperity."

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated the graduates and partners with a letter: "I am convinced that systemic thinking, a holistic understanding of strategies, and the significant leadership potential of leaders at all levels will contribute to strengthening our country's defense capabilities!"

Thanks to cross-functional interaction among participants from 15 defense and security institutions within the program, 4 comprehensive solution models were developed. Their implementation will contribute to the creation of an Integrated National Security System of Ukraine, necessary for the consistent and effective formation of policies, acceleration of decision-making, and transformation of the Government's priority areas of the Sector, bringing it closer to NATO standards.

"We are now in a very turbulent period: democratic and totalitarian regimes are entering an active phase of 'relationship clarification'. Major changes will occur in the world, and we must be ready for them. Who should lead this? Of course, it should be educated, patriotic people who understand what a state is, what our country is. All developed solutions must be installed in our society, and in this matter, we must rely, first of all, on ourselves and our true partners. Because when we act together, no enemy will have any chance to be on our land," noted the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov and, together with the program director, presented diplomas to the graduates.

Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Polishchuk delivered greetings from the Minister of Defense of Ukraine and emphasized the need to implement the developed solutions: "We are entering a very difficult period of implementing everything that has been developed. This has always been a challenge for everyone. Therefore, I hope that we will continue our cooperation with the School and our partners, who provide extraordinary support, important for strengthening this synergy not only at the national level but also internationally."

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny highlighted the importance of the development directions with which the Program participants work, the joint contribution to the formation of the collective intelligence of the security and defense sector.

The involvement of the experience and expertise of a wide range of international partners contributes to the integration of advanced visions and practical experience of NATO member countries in the development of models.

"Ukraine recognizes the importance of international institutions in countering hostile forces. All these institutions are based on network-centric design, requirements for effective functioning, and active coordination at both the internal and interstate levels, as well as among the institutions themselves. Due to a lack of mutual understanding and interoperability, institutions and states that are part of them or have partner status will be unable to achieve national interests," emphasized Nicholas Harrocks, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy's Ministry of Defence.

Rob Foster, Canada's Defense Attaché in Ukraine, added that Canada's goal is to build a network of partnerships with like-minded individuals to create a strong and resilient national security system in Ukraine by spreading successful practices and views and also participating in project creation within the Program.

The Program, in particular, includes the use of advanced military doctrines, concepts, strategies that change the understanding of roles and help form a comprehensive vision of the National Security and Defense System in the country's development under conditions of hybrid confrontation. Among them are the use of a whole-of-society approach, whole-of-government approaches, and multi-domain integration, gray zone strategies, countering cognitive influence.

For the successful implementation of the created models, it is important to prepare a critical mass of institutional leaders who have a common understanding of transformation, are capable of developing systemic projects, and establishing effective cooperation and interaction.

"You demonstrated a holistic approach with visionary solutions precisely in the context of today's Ukraine: you talked about changing the culture from a vertical type of relations to a horizontal one, about open systems and understanding their work, about the nature of humans and their role in these systems. And most importantly, I personally felt that each of you is ready to take responsibility for implementing these ideas and approaches," said kmbs Dean Oleksandr Savruk.

The Kyiv-Mohyla Business School was the first in Ukraine to launch educational programs for the country's senior military leadership. Since 2017, with the support of the National Security Council of Ukraine and the Office of the President of Ukraine and with the support of the Governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, the school has been running the "Strategic Leadership in the Security and Defense Sector of Ukraine" program, aimed at developing a modern comprehensive vision of national security in its various interconnected and interdependent areas.

Institutions represented by Program participants:

National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
Security Service of Ukraine
State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
National Defense University named after I. Chernyakhovsky
Military Diplomatic Academy
State Migration Service of Ukraine
Ministry of Energy of Ukraine
Enterprises of the State Concern "Ukroboronprom"

On November 10, 2021, 45 military institutional leaders completed training in the "Strategic Leadership in the Security and Defense Sector" program