Move Fast and Innovate Things: Agile Procurement in the Ukrainian Defence Technology Space

We welcome you to a presentation by CSNS and the Sahaidachnyi Security Centre exploring the development of the agile defence procurement system in Ukraine, the first presentation in the Lessons from Ukraine series.

The adaptation battle forms a foundational element of understanding Russia’s war on Ukraine. Novel automated and robotic platforms, and new methods of their deployment and operational use, precipitate technological, doctrinal and tactical responses and countermeasures that themselves lead to further adaptation.

However, a focus on technical and operational development loops presents an incomplete picture of Ukrainian innovation, and less well understood are the structures and processes that Ukraine has developed to ensure the right equipment is produced in the required numbers, and how lessons learned on the battlefield are translated quickly and dynamically into frontline capability.

Since 24 February 2022, Ukraine has moved from a Soviet-derived centralised procurement system to a multi-layered, multi-actor and increasingly digitalised architecture, characterised by delegated purchasing authority and driven by battlefield data and end-user feedback. Ukraine is highlighting that defence procurement can no longer be understood primarily as the administrative act of purchasing equipment: it is becoming an integral part of the combat innovation system.

This talk presents the inaugural publication in Lessons from Ukraine, a standing series under the CSNS Ukraine and Russia Programme that channels leading Ukrainian defence and security analysis directly into UK policy debate. Working with Ukrainian units and analytical centres, the series co-publishes policy-facing papers on questions of direct relevance to UK national security.

About the Speakers:

Dr Elena Davlikanova is a Ukrainian security and political analyst, Senior Fellow at the Sahaidachnyi Security Center (SSC) in Kyiv and the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington, DC. Since October 2026 she has also been a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Department of War Studies. Her current research at SSC focuses on the emerging European security architecture, Russia’s sub-threshold war against Europe, and its full-scale war against Ukraine.

Chris Pool is a Visiting Fellow at CSNS and a PhD researcher in the Department of War Studies focusing on Russia’s war on Ukraine. In March 2022 he co-founded a UK-based volunteer initiative supplying vehicles and other equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces, and travels regularly throughout Ukraine liaising with brigades. He has also been an active investor in Ukrainian defence technology and dual-use companies.