Understanding Success: Why Certain Ukrainian Military Formations Run Consistently Successful Recruitment Campaigns

By Jimmy Rushton

Key Points:

Ukrainian military units recruit in a competitive marketplace. Volunteers have considerable choice over where they serve, and many mobilised men attempt to direct themselves toward specific units. Brigades that recruit successfully often have waiting lists to join; those that do not routinely struggle to fill their ranks.
There are material differences between units that consistently recruit successfully and those that do not. Units with a strong track record of military success, as well as a reputation for good training, competent leadership, strong military culture and “esprit de corps”, are also those who run the most successful recruitment campaigns.
These military units demonstrate that when training, leadership, and military culture are of a highquality, volunteers actively seek out service.
Ukrainians in general, and prospective recruits especially, are well aware of the variation in quality between military units and typically choose to join those units which a) fight the Russians most effectively and b) give them the best chance of surviving the war.