Wednesday 12 February 2025 (Live-streamed)

08.30- Welcome and Admin remarks / Janne Pukkila (FNDU)
08.40-08.45 Opening words / Rector of FNDU, Major General Mika Kalliomaa
09.00-09.30 The Russian military’s lessons learned from the Ukraine conflict: What should concern NATO? / Rod Thornton and Marina Miron (Defence Studies Department of King’s College, UK)
09.30-09.45 Panel
09.45-09.55 Break

09.55-18.00 Parallel sessions (see below)

 

Session 1 (Auditorium Itälinnake) - Military Strategy and Operational Art

Moderator: Katri Pynnöniemi (FNDU)

09.55-10.35 AI-Augmented Analysis of Russia’s Self-Perceived Military Strengths and Weaknesses in the Russian-Ukrainian War (2022-...) / Stephan De Spiegeleire (The Hague Center for Strategic Studies, Netherlands) and Adam Stulberg (Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA)
10.35-11.15 Full scale invasion of Ukraine and lessons learned for NGW theory / Olexander Hryb (HQ JFC NATO, Brunssum, Netherlands)
11.15-11.45 Panel

Session 2 (Auditorium Itälinnake) - Russia’s relations and resources

Moderator: Pentti Forsström (FNDU)

12.15-12.45 Russian economy on war footing - A new reality financed by commodity exports / Yuriy Gorodnichenko (University of California – Berkeley); Iikka Korhonen, (BOFIT, Bank of Finland); Elina Ribakova (Peterson Institute of International Economics and Kyiv School of Economics)
12.45-13.15 How Russian economy fuels its military capabilities? / Vadym Pakholchuk (Military Academy, Kyiv, Ukraine)
13.15-13.45 Panel

 

Session 3 (Riviera, 2nd floor) - Russia’s relations in contemporary world

Moderator: Michael R. Rouland (EUCOM RSI, USA)

09.55-10.25 Changing the International Cooperation Vector of Russia to Achieve Goals in the War with Ukraine / Valerii Hordiichuk and Nina Andrianova (NDU, Ukraine)
10.25-10.50 Tools and mechanisms of Russia's alliance-building strategy after the outbreak of war in Ukraine: major achievements and miscalculations / Sergei Melkonian (Research Fellow APRI Armenia)
10.50-11.15 The changing role of Russia in Central Asia / Marzia Cimmino (FNDU)
11.15-11.45 Panel

 

Session 4 (Riviera, 2nd floor) - Russian military thought

Moderator: Pentti Forsström (FNDU)

12.15-12.45 What is new in the proposed changes in Russia’s nuclear doctrine? / Kristina Melin (FOI, Sweden)
12.45-13.15 Russian Nuclear Deterrence Concept: Changes and Threats (ZOOM) / Andrii Ivachenko and Tatiana Uvarova (NDU, Ukraine)
13.15-13.45 Panel

 

Session 5 (Itälinnake) - Russia's Resources

Moderator: Juha-Matti Lehtonen (FNDU)

14.30-15.00 Wartime expansion of Russian militaryindustrial complex – a new cornerstone of economy and the main driver of future conflicts? / Jussi Jalonen (Finnish Navy Command)
15.00-15.30 Battling War Economies: Innovating and Adapting the Defence Industrial Base During Major Wars / Marc DeVore (University of St. Andrews, UK) and Kristen A. Harkness (University of St. Andrews / UK Foreign Office)
15.30-16.00 Panel

 

Session 6 (Itälinnake) - Russian Military Thought and Strategies

Moderator: Juha Kukkola (FNDU)

16.30-17.00 Modern Methods of Hybrid Warfare in Russian Military Thought / Yevhenii Harkavyi 
(Military Academy, Kyiv, Ukraine)
17.00-17.30 Russia’s hybrid operations in the West and their news coverage  / Kari Liuhto and Hanna Mäkinen (Pan-European Institute, University of Turku, Finland)
17.30-18.00 Russia’s Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) in Achieving Cognitive Dominance through Media (NO on-line streaming) / Kseniya Piddubna (JFC, Joint Force Command,  Brunssum, NATO)
18.00-18.30 Panel

 

Session 7 (Riviera, 2nd floor) - Military Sociology

Moderator: Jonna Alava (FNDU)

14.30-15.00 ”An Army with too many people and not enough soldiers”: Russian military manpower system in flux / Oona-Maaria Hyppölä (FNDU)
15.00-15.30 Russia´s covert mobilisation: instruments, structures and risks for domestic stability   / Margarete Klein (German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Germany)
15.30-16.00 Panel

 

Session 8 (Riviera, 2nd floor) - Military Strategy and Operational Art

Moderator: Sakari Soini (FNDU)

16.30-17.00 Key Lessons of Russia’s Ground Warfare in Ukraine / Leonid Nersisyan (APRI, Armenia)
17.00-17.30 Russian Railways: A case study in civil-military relations   / Maria Engqvist (FOI, Sweden)
17.30-18.00 Russia’s Post-Ukraine Land Force Reconstitution and Future Operational Concepts (ZOOM) / Clint Reach (RAND, USA)
18.00-18.30 Panel (ZOOM)

 

 

Thursday 13 February 2025 (Live-streamed)

 

Session 9 (Itälinnake) - Military Sociology

Moderator: Katri Pynnöniemi (FNDU)

09.00-09.30 Russian and Ukrainian Approaches to Civil-Military Relations during Wartime: A Theoretical and Operational Perspective / Fainberg Sarah-Masha (Tel Aviv University, Israel) and Marangé Céline (Institute for Strategic Research, France)
09.30-10.00 How have political and structural changes within the wartime Russian dictatorship since 2022 impacted civil-military relations? / Waller Julian Gordon, (Center for Naval Analyses; George Washington University, USA)
10.00-10.30 Panel

 

Session 10 (Riviera, 2nd floor) - Military Strategy and Operational Art

Moderator: Risto Kohonen (FNDU)

09.00-09.30 The War in the Black Sea – The character of naval warfare is undergoing a fundamental shift caused by drone technology / Tobias Kollakowski (German Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies, Germany)
09.30-10,00 Russian Military Strategy and Operational Art in the Black Sea War: Lessons from Experience, Theory Development, and Prospects. (ZOOM)  / Stepan Yakymiak (Capt (Navy)(ret.), Ukraine)
15.30-16.00 Panel (Zoom)

 

Session 11 (Itälinnake) - Future Prospects

Moderator: Juha Kukkola (FNDU)

11.30-12.00 Military-Patriotic Education in Russia: From Lessons Learned to Future Prospects for Military Culture / Jonna Alava (FNDU/Helsinki University)
12.00-12.30 War Termination in the Russian-Ukraine War: Assessing Coercion Dynamics and Military Effectiveness (ZOOM) / Bernard Finel (George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Germany)
12.30-13.00 Where do Russia’s mobilized soldiers come from? Evidence from regional bank deposits / Solanko Laura (BOFIT, Bank of Finland) 

 

Session 12 (Itälinnake) - Future Prospects

Moderators: Juha Kukkola, Katri Pynnöniemi (FNDU)

13.30-14.15 Panel discussion on Russia’s future prospects, resources and status (ZOOM) / Fainberg, Marangé, Waller, Hyppölä, Klein, Finel, Alava, Korhonen (tbc) 
14.15- Closing Remarks / Pasi Hirvonen (Vice Rector, FNDU)

End of the Russia Seminar 2025