Speaker: Mykola Bielieskov

This event is organised by the CSD Speaker Series and Come Back Alive. 

The Department of War Studies welcomes Come Back Alive, Ukraine’s leading civil society organisation working at the intersection of defence policy and veteran support. Senior Analyst Mykola Bielieskov will speak about Ukraine’s security challenges, the role of analytical expertise and civil society in shaping state defenсe policy, and the continuing impact of Russia’s full-scale war.

This seminar offers a rare opportunity to engage with frontline perspectives on modern warfare, civil-military partnerships, and the security challenges Ukraine faces in the largest war in Europe since 1945.

This event will be in-person and audience questions will be encouraged.

About Come Back Alive

Come Back Alive is Ukraine’s largest charitable foundation dedicated to supporting the country’s Defence Forces and strengthening national security. Established in 2014, the organisation began by delivering bulletproof vests inscribed with the words “Come Back Alive” to the frontlines of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Over the past eleven years, it has grown into a strategic partner of the Defence Forces of Ukraine, supplying more than 43,000 FPV drones, 12,000 thermal imaging devices, 5,000 infantry weapons, and even a Bayraktar TB2 UAV complex.

In addition to military equipment, Come Back Alive develops training programmes that have prepared over 11,000 specialists in areas such as sapping, sniping, and UAV operations, while also advancing tactical medicine capacities and supporting classified missions.

Beyond the battlefield, the foundation’s CBA Initiatives Centre, established in 2024, leads analytical research on defence and fosters veteran recovery through adaptive sports. Guided by the values of responsibility, mutual support, bold action, and self-development, the Centre works with the public sector to strengthen Ukraine’s defence capabilities and build lasting national resilience, while amplifying the fundraising work of Come Back Alive.

About the speaker

Mykola Bielieskov is a senior analyst at Come Back Alive. Since October 2019, he has also served in the Department of Defence Policy at the National Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of Ukraine. From 2016 to 2019, he worked at the Institute of World Policy, a Kyiv-based NGO. He holds an MA in International Relations from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

Chair

Dr Domitilla Sagramoso is a Senior Lecturer in Security and Development at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, and an expert on Russian foreign and security policy, with a particular focus on the post-Soviet space. Her research spans violent conflict, Islamist-jihadist movements in the North Caucasus, and Russia’s wars in Ukraine, the South Caucasus and the Middle East.

About the CSD Speaker Series

The Conflict, Security and Development (CSD) Speaker Series is an initiative from the Conflict, Security & Development Research Group in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. It aims to bring together interested individuals with leading experts and influential thinkers in the fields of conflict, security, and development.

Kindly note that this event is not intended as a fundraising event.