Strengthening Ukraine’s Resilience

By Tahmina Karimova, Faculty Associate-Research, Energy Academic Group

The Russo-Ukrainian war has demonstrated that critical infrastructure is one of Ukraine’s most vital and vulnerable assets. Aggressor’s ongoing kinetic and non-kinetic attacks against the country’s critical energy infrastructure (CEI) are resulting in lasting ramifications not only for Ukraine but the region itself. As such CEI protection is instrumental in enhancing national stability and resilience, especially in times of war.

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) executed the NATO Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection and Resilience Course (CEIP&R) from 23-27 October 2023 in Poland. Thirty military and civilian personnel from diverse Ukrainian organizations as well as Polish and Lithuanian personnel attended the course. The five-day program was conducted in partnership with the NATO School Oberammergau and was hosted by the Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian Brigade in Lublin, Poland. The course was executed in close collaboration with the NPS' Energy Academic Group (EAG) and Center for Infrastructure Defense (CID) as well as NATO HQ, NATO Energy Security Center of Excellence, and NATO Ukraine Liaison Office.

The course aimed at equipping civilian and military personnel of Ukraine with knowledge and skills on CEIP&R to enhance resilience and ultimately support the development of CEIP guidelines for Ukrainian national authorities. The 5-day course was meticulously designed to provide a critical mix of theory and practice, with presentations ranging from strategic/geopolitical to operational and applied.

In particular, CID leads, Drs. David Alderson and Daniel Eisenberg, presented best practices for vulnerability and resilience analysis of critical energy infrastructure and led hands-on activities and serious gameplay to demonstrate concepts in action. By the end of the week-long instruction, participants were able to apply vulnerability and resilience concepts for real infrastructure systems that mattered to their organizations, including power grids, dams, and telecommunications systems.

The course was well received, as noted by EAG Associate Chair, Mr. Alan Howard. The program serves as a critical platform for sharing lessons learned and best practices, collaborating, and tackling issues of critical strategic importance between NPS, allies, and partners. Stakeholders are planning a follow-on course next fall to continue enhancing Ukraine’s ability to strengthen energy security and CEI resilience.

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Contact Tahmina Karimova at ttkarimo@nps.edu for more information about this event.