Editors

John A. Nagl, Project Director, and Michael T. Hackett, Chief of Staff

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Description

Following the 2024 A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force, which explored military lessons learned from the first year of the Russia-Ukraine War, this book examines the changing character of war as the second year of the war unfolded. This year’s authors explore the conflict from four different angles: information advantage (intelligence, information operations, and cyber); landpower operations (fires, maneuver, force protection, mission command, and mercenaries); multi-domain operations (air and maritime); and crosscutting themes (diplomacy, sustainment, and innovation and adaptation). The second year witnessed the innovative approaches to combat of the first year—drones, unmanned aerial systems, and electronic-warfare offensive and defensive capabilities—combined with entrenched warfare not seen at the current scale in Europe since World War I. The use of mercenary private military companies like the Wagner Group generated moments of high suspense (with a failed mutiny in July 2023) and led to changes in Russian force structure and tactics. Delays in continued allied support tested the resolve and operational capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which nevertheless kept up the fight and held Russia back. Through it all, the conflict offers a compelling picture of the war of the future, along with lessons for the US Army Training and Doctrine Command to prepare the Joint Force to meet the challenges of the large-scale combat operations of tomorrow.

©2026 John A. Nagl. All rights reserved.

ISBN

1-58487-861-4

Publication Date

1-12-2026

Publisher

USAWC Press

City

Carlisle Barracks, PA

Keywords

Russia, Ukraine, trench warfare, changing character of war, US Army Training and Doctrine Command

Disciplines

Defense and Security Studies | Military and Veterans Studies | Peace and Conflict Studies

A Long, Hard Year: Russia-Ukraine War Lessons Learned 2023

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