Head of the Program Gelena Savruk opened the event: “Today, the traditional military confrontation has been complemented by multidimensional competition in the “gray zone” marked by subthreshold challenges — the aggressor’s ability to strike non-linearly and systematically in vulnerabilities far beyond the military. We now have to act ahead, go our own way, and side by side with a global network of strategic partners. We need to be able to navigate at a new speed, building a wide range of capabilities at a fundamentally different level with a long-term projection of impact, development, and prosperity.”

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated the graduates and partners with a letter: "I am convinced that systems thinking, a holistic understanding of strategies and significant leadership potential of leaders at all levels will help increase the defense capabilities of our country!"

Due to the cross-functional interaction of participants from 15 defense and security institutions, 4 comprehensive decision models were developed within the Program. Their implementation will contribute to creating the Integrated National Security System of Ukraine, which is necessary for consistent and effective policy-making, acceleration of decision-making, and transformation of the Government's priority areas, bringing it closer to NATO standards.

We are now in a very turbulent period: democratic and totalitarian regimes are entering an active phase of "clarifying relations". There will be very big changes in the world, and we must be ready for that. Who should manage them? Of course, these should be educated, patriotic people who understand what a state is, what our country is. All developed solutions must be embeded in our society, and in this case, we must rely, first of all, on ourselves and our actual partners. After all, if we act together, no enemy will have any chance to step at our land, "said Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov. Together with the Head of the Program he presented diplomas to graduates.

Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Polishchuk welcomed the Minister of Defense of Ukraine and stressed the need to implement the decisions made: “We are entering a very difficult period of implementation of all that has been achieved. It 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, which is important for strengthening this synergy not only at the national level but also at the international level. ”

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

Building on the expertise and expertise of a wide range of international partners helps to integrate NATO member countries' best practices into model development.

"Ukraine is aware of the importance of international institutions in countering hostile forces. All these institutions are based on network-centric design, the requirements of productive functioning, and effective coordination at the internal and interstate levels, and between the institutions. Due to the lack of mutual understanding and compatibility, the institutions and states that are members of them or have the status of a partner will be unable to achieve national interests," said Nicholas Harrocks, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy Ministry of Defense.

Rob Foster, Canada's Defense Attaché to Ukraine, added that Canada's goal is to build a network of like-minded partnerships to build a strong and sustainable Ukrainian national security system through the dissemination of successful practices and ideas, and by participating in projects within the Program.

The Program, in particular, includes the use of advanced military doctrines, concepts, strategies that change the understanding of the role and help to form a comprehensive vision of the National Security and Defense System in the development of the country in a hybrid confrontation. Among them is the usage of a nationwide approach, integrated government approaches and multi-domain integration, “gray zone” strategies, and counteracting 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, can develop systemic projects, and establish effective cooperation and interaction.

"You have demonstrated a holistic approach with a visionary solution in the context of today's Ukraine. You have talked about changes in culture from vertical to horizontal, about open systems and how they work, about human nature and its role in these systems. And most importantly, I personally feel that each of you is ready to take responsibility for the implementation of these ideas and approaches,” — dean of kmbs Oleksandr Savruk.

Kyiv-Mohyla Business School was the first in Ukraine to launch training programs for the country's top military leadership. Since 2017, with the assistance 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 Security and Defense Sector Program. interconnected and interdependent areas.

Strategic Leadership Program in Security and Defence Sector of Ukraine