The National Security And Defence Strategy Department

Colonel Pavlo Hrytsai
The head of the department isColonel
Pavlo Hrytsai
candidate of military sciences, senior researcher

The National Security and Defense Strategy Department is a structural unit of the Institute of State Military Management of the National Defence University of Ukraine, which carries out educational, training, and methodological work, as well as scientific and scientific-technical activities related to the training of students at the strategic and operational levels of training. The educational and scientific activities of the department focus on issues of national security and defense, international relations and foreign policy of Ukraine, the functioning of the security and defence sector of Ukraine, state defence planning, and strategic planning for the use of defence forces.

The department consists of:

  • department management;
  • scientific and pedagogical workers;
  • educational laboratory.

The National Security and Defence Strategy Department was established in accordance with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated July 19, 1992 No. 490 "On the Reform of the Military Education System" and the Order of the Minister of Defence of Ukraine dated July 25, 1992 No. 133, by the decision of the Defence Council of Ukraine dated June 4, 1992 as the Department of Strategy of the Academy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The department was assigned the task of participating in the organization of the training of military specialists at operational and strategic levels in the state.

Since September 1, 1994, the staff of the department has been working as a leading educational and scientific unit of the academy. It is symbolic that the Day of the Department of National Security and Defence Strategy is considered to be the day when the first class was held at the department on October 14, 1994.

The department is a graduating department in the field of knowledge K “Security and Defence” specialty K3 “National Security (in specific areas of security and types of activities)” under the following educational and scientific programs:

  • “Strategic Management in the Security and Defence Sector” – second (master's) level of higher education for training strategic level specialists (guarantor of the educational and scientific program – head of the department, Colonel Pavlo HRYTSAI, candidate of military sciences, senior research fellow);
  • “National Security of the State” – third (educational and scientific) level of higher education (guarantor of the educational and scientific program – Professor of the Department Vasyl TELELYM, Doctor of Military Sciences, Professor, Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine).

The main tasks of the department are:

  • conducting educational and methodological work in specific specialties at the strategic and operational levels of training officers and civil servants for the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, other components of the security and defence sector of Ukraine, as well as specialists from foreign countries;
  • participating in the training of students in professional military education courses in strategic management at the highest level and state policy, strategic and operational levels;
  • ensuring the training of scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel of the highest category (Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Science) for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other components of the security and defence sector of Ukraine;
  • conducting scientific and scientific-technical activities;
  • creating (improving) the regulatory, legal, educational, and material base for educational activities;
  • developing and conducting expert reviews of draft legislative and other regulatory acts on issues of ensuring the national security and defense of Ukraine, training and use of the defense forces of Ukraine;
  • participating in the formation of state policy in the field of national security and defence of Ukraine, foreign policy of Ukraine, determining the prospects and directions of development of the security and defence sector of Ukraine, preserving and developing the national traditions of the Ukrainian people, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and others.

Representatives of the department are involved in the work as follows:

  • Pavlo Hrytsai – Chairman of the Subcommittee on Specialty K3 “National Security (in specific areas of security and types of activities)” of the Scientific and Methodological Commission 11 on Security and Defence in Higher Education of the Scientific and Methodological Council of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine;
  • Vasyl Telelym – member of the attestation board of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine; member of the State Committee for the Awarding of State Prizes in the Field of Education and Science; full member of the Academy of Sciences of Higher Education of Ukraine and the International Personnel Academy, Chairman of the Academic Council of the University.

The department trains:

  • officers and civil servants of the security and defense sector of Ukraine:
    • at the third (educational and scientific) level of higher education in the following disciplines:
      • Conceptual issues of national security;
      • Theoretical foundations of military scientific research in the field of national security.
    • at the second (master's) level of higher education in the following disciplines:
      • training of strategic-level specialists:
        • Academic foundations;
        • Security environment, European and Euro-Atlantic integration, and Ukraine's security policy;
        • National security and defense policy;
        • National military strategy;
        • Fundamentals of the use of Ukraine's security forces;
        • Use of defense forces;
        • Conceptual foundations of research on the use of defense forces.
      • training of operational-level specialists:
        • Security and strategy;
        • Crisis response.
      • In professional military education courses:
        • Higher-level strategic management and state policy L-5;
        • Senior strategic-level management L-4;
        • Operational-level joint staff officers L-3.
        Retraining and advanced training on issues related to:
        • Military security;
        • Ukraine's international relations;
        • National security and defense.

Results of the department's activities:

  1. An educational and scientific program “Strategic Management in the Security and Defence Sector” of the second (master's) level of higher education with a master's degree in specialty K3 “National Security (in specific areas of security and types of activities)” for the training of officers and civil servants of the security and defence sector of Ukraine, which was accredited in 2023 with the rating “EXCELLENT”;
  2. In 2024, the educational and scientific program “National Security of the State” of the third (educational and scientific) level of higher education, degree of Doctor of Philosophy, specialty K3 “National Security (in specific areas of security and types of activities)” for the training of officers and civil servants of the security and defence sector of Ukraine;
  3. The department conducts pedagogical experiments on the introduction of active teaching methods, a new approach to assessing the work of students, and methodological approaches to teaching that are accepted in military educational institutions of NATO member states;
  4. The positive results of pedagogical experiments are implemented in the educational process by revising and amending the working programs of all academic disciplines of the department.

The department is located on the territory of the military town at 28 Povitryanykh Syl Avenue, Kyiv, on the second floor of the first academic building.