Department of Military History And Operational Art

Colone Igor Furman
The Head of the Department
Doctor of Historical Sciences, ProfessorColone
Igor Furman

The Department of the History of Wars and Military Art is a leading structural unit of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Military History, Law and Social Sciences of the National Defence University of Ukraine and serves as the center of military-historical activities at the university. The department conducts educational, instructional, methodological, and publishing work, and carries out scientific and scientific-technical activities on key issues concerning the history of wars, the history of military art, the history of military construction, the history of the development of armaments and military equipment, and the history of military thought.

The department traces its origins to 1994, when a subject-methodological commission on the history of wars and military art was established within the Strategy Department of the Academy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On April 7, 1997, this commission was reorganized into a separate educational and scientific unit – the Department of the History of Wars and Military Art. Captain 1st Rank Mykola Rybak, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, and Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, was appointed as the head of the newly formed department. April 7 is celebrated as the official Day of the Department of the History of Wars and Military Art.

The department consists of:

  • the department’s leadership;
  • academic and teaching staff.

The main tasks of the department include:

  • conducting educational activities to train military professionals at the strategic, operational (master’s), and tactical (bachelor’s) levels for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and other military formations of the state;
  • participating in the training of military specialists in the framework of the professional military education course “Basic Tactical Level Course L-1A,” as well as courses for officers of joint operational staffs at the operational level (L-3), senior leadership at the strategic level (L-4), and strategic-level governance and state policy (L-5);
  • participating in the retraining and professional development of servicemen, personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, officials from other components of the security and defense sector of Ukraine, and civil servants — in particular, through the advanced training course on the organization of the study and implementation of experience in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (course code: VVD-OR), and the course on organizing military-historical work in the troops (forces) (course code: VVD-OR);
  • providing scientific support for the educational process at the university in the military-historical field; conducting scientific, scientific-technical, and innovative activities in the interests of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in response to current challenges and threats to Ukraine and the ongoing reform and development of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, through the implementation of military-historical research in the following areas: the history of wars, the history of military art, the history of military construction, the history of armament and military equipment development, and the history of military thought;
  • studying and integrating into the educational process the experience of repelling the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine;
  • conducting certification and training of highly qualified academic and research personnel — Doctors of Philosophy and Doctors of Sciences — for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations of Ukraine;
  • ensuring the functioning of a specialized academic council in the specialty 20.02.22 – Military History, with the authority to accept and defend dissertations for the degree of Doctor/Candidate of Historical Sciences, as well as supporting the work of one-time specialized academic councils for the preparation of adjuncts pursuing the degree of Doctor of Philosophy;
  • participating in editorial and publishing activities, and producing textbooks, manuals, and other educational and methodological materials for the department’s academic disciplines;
  • participating in the development and expert evaluation of draft legislation and other regulatory legal acts within the department’s field of activity;
  • ensuring the cultural and spiritual development of individuals; fostering national consciousness, patriotic and moral-ethical values, national and professional dignity in officers, as well as awareness of their connection to the millennia-old traditions and spiritual culture of the Ukrainian people.

The scientific potential of the department includes 2 Doctors of Sciences, Professors, and 6 Candidates of Sciences (Doctor of Philosophy), Associate Professors (Senior Research):

  • head of the Department – Colonel Igor Ivanovych Furman, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor. Areas of research interest: naval history, the history of naval art, military history of Ukraine, history of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war;
  • professor of the Department – Officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhii Sydorov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor. Areas of research interest: history of wars, history of military art;
  • professor of the Department – Captain 1st Rank Oleksii Chirikalov, Candidate of Historical Sciences. Areas of research interest: history of wars, history of naval art, military-historical reconstruction and military archaeology;
  • professor of the Department – Colonel Igor Pecheniuk, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Senior Research. Areas of research interest: military history of Ukraine, partisan and insurgent movements, history of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war, history of military aviation;
  • professor of the Department – Colonel Volodymyr Reznik, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Senior Research. Areas of research interest: history of wars, history of military art, history of armaments and military equipment;
  • associate Professor of the Department – Officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Volodymyr Makarov, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor. Areas of research interest: history of wars, history of military art, history of military aviation;
  • associate Professor of the Department – Officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Rostyslav Pyliavets, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor. Areas of research interest: military history of Ukraine, history of military art, history of wars, history of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war;
  • senior Lecturer of the Department – Lieutenant Colonel Serhii Buriak, Doctor of Philosophy. Areas of research interest: history of wars, history of armaments and military equipment.

The department offers ten academic courses:

    For students at the strategic level:
  • “History of Military Strategy”;
  • “The Russian-Ukrainian War: Global and Regional Dimensions”.
    For students at the operational level:
  • “Factual Foundations of Military-Historical Work”;
  • “History of Military Art”;
  • “History of Naval Art”;
  • “History of the Military Art of the Air Forces”;
  • “History of Armament and Military Equipment Development”;
  • “Military Historiography and Source Studies”.
    For cadets (tactical level):
  • “History of Wars and Military Art”.
    For Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) candidates in specialty K5 – Military Management (by branches of the armed forces):
  • “Organization, Command, and Employment of Armed Forces Groupings in Military Conflicts: Historical Experience”.

The department annually holds an inter-university scientific and practical seminar entitled “The Experience of the Employment of Armed Forces in World Wars and Military Conflicts of the 20th – Early 21st Century: Trends and Patterns”.

Since its establishment, the department’s staff has prepared 5 Doctors of Sciences and 46 Candidates of Sciences (Doctors of Philosophy).