How Ukraine Can Win: Kamyshin Speaks

One of the most important voices on the war makes alot of sense

Hello All,

While I was writing this yesterday, the news broke that President Zelensky was establishing a stand alone ‘Unmanned Systems Force’. I think this can be read as confirmation that the ideas of Kamyshin and those like him are being taken onboard by the Ukrainian government. It fits so many of Ukraine’s strategic needs (will develop this later). Anyway, evidence that the way of thinking outlined below is having great impact.

This is going to be a piece that takes an overview of how wars are won and lost, and engages in particular with the publicly stated ideas of Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine’s Minister of Strategic Industries.

Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister of Strategic Industries, Ukraine

I was lucky enough to have a meeting with Kamyshin when I was in Ukraine as part of a University of St Andrews delegation last Spring. At that time he had just taken over as the Minister of Strategic Industries, after having done an extraordinary job keeping the Ukrainian rail system running during the first few months after the full-scale invasion. In his job overseeing Ukrainian railways through the worst moments of the full-scale invasion, Kamyshin not only kept Kyiv linked to the outside world, he helped knit together all Ukrainian cities. Since then the Ukrainian railways have played a massive role keeping Ukraine in the fight. They both handle an enormous amount of freight and passenger traffic from the border (the airports have been closed for commercial flights since 24 February 2022), they also ferry Ukrainian troops almost to the front line itself. Most people who come to visit Kyiv from outside, seem to arrive by rail—including President Biden.

President Biden Arrives in Kyiv by Train.

Now Kamyshin was obviously considered an enormous asset by the Ukrainian state, and so it was decided to move him from the railways and give him control of a new ministry (which as far as I know might have been set up just for him). This was the ministry of strategic industries, which has as its remit the establishment of a homegrown Ukrainian war industry to make the most important equipment Ukraine needs to fight the war.