The common desire of all normal Ukrainians is to achieve victory in the war against fascist Russia. However, the end of the war does not seem to be near. Putin has embarked on a course of protracted, exhausting conflict where Ukrainian population is being ground down, infrastructure is being destroyed, and blood-soaked meters of territory are being slowly seized.

In this situation, many practices and actions carried out by the Ukrainian government do not appear to be fully adequate responses to new challenges and need timely adjustments. During the long war after the full-scale invasion, the connection between the government and society gradually diminishes. For decades, this connection in Ukraine was ensured by electoral processes and procedures, where both the government and counter-elites were forced to listen to their citizens, hoping for electoral support. Now, the government is categorically unwilling to find opportunities to hold elections during wartime, even though the constitutional 5-year terms of the President and the Verkhovna Rada have already expired. In this situation, one of the few factors that give at least a minimal chance that the government will hear an alternative opinion is the initiative of various petitions and public discussions.

“7 Steps to Victory” is an initiative by Sviatoslav Dubyna, which proposes quite systematic steps to bring the country out of crisis and strengthen the resistance to Russian aggression. 

Sviatoslav Dubyna is currently a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a senior lieutenant who volunteered on February 24, 2022, participated in the liberation of Kharkiv region, fought in Luhansk region, and was wounded. Therefore, Dubyna is not an outsider expert but a person who is in the thick of the war, so his proposals should at least be carefully analyzed. He registered his “7 Steps to Victory” on the official state petition website, where they gathered the necessary 25,000 votes for consideration within just 2 days, after which the possibility to add additional signatures was disabled. Now, a whole circle of intellectuals is forming around the “7 Steps” in the country, the document has gained collegiate status, and a campaign for a nationwide survey to support this document is beginning.

What specific steps are proposed and why?

Step One

Reduce the state apparatus by 80%. Adjust the number of officials, police officers, tax officers, customs officers, and workers of law enforcement agencies to match the conditions of the special period. From this pool of reduced civil servants, mobilize all men of draft age into the army. Currently, the army is being mobilized with often random and unmotivated people, while several hundred thousand representatives of the police and law enforcement agencies, i.e., people who know how to handle weapons, are exempt from mobilization.

Step Two

Ensure the gradual rotation of all civil servants who did not participate in the defense of the state with those who did. Henceforth, only citizens who participated in combat, actively helped the front, and have the necessary abilities and competencies should have the right to work in government institutions. Currently, those in power feel like the “elite,” affected by the war only in words, not in practice.

Step Three

Replace forced mobilization with contractual recruiting on a voluntary basis. Mandatory mobilization remains only for representatives of law enforcement agencies and civil servants. Provide voluntary recruits with high salaries, state life insurance, a deposit in case of injury or death, a social benefits package that includes grants for education for the soldier and his children after demobilization, grants for entrepreneurial activities, and an increased pension.

Step Four

Conduct a personnel audit in the army to eliminate staff bureaucracy. Only those servicemen who ensure real combat capability should remain in the army. Introduce a principle in the army: career advancement and awards should be given only to officers who do not lose personnel. The death of personnel should be considered an extraordinary event and investigated. Those responsible for the deaths must be held accountable.

Step Five

Reallocate the state budget so that its main part ‒ at least 80% ‒ is spent on the needs of the army and the country’s defense. Funding for life in the rear should only include expenses for critical infrastructure. During hostilities, prohibit funding for beautification works, construction of new buildings and roads, repairs of existing roads, and objects not related to the country’s defense and critical infrastructure.

Step Six

Introduce a wartime economy. To do this, maximize state orders for the production of weapons and army equipment from Ukrainian enterprises and entrepreneurs. Prohibit interference in their work by state and law enforcement agencies. Ensure preferential priority lending to weapons manufacturers. Introduce simplified taxation for all business entities, administered through the banking system without the involvement of tax officials. The tax service should be reduced to 1,000 people, with dismissed men mobilized.

Step Seven

Open Ukraine’s western borders for free movement of citizens. The ban on exit should apply only to civil servants. Transfer the protection of our borders and the functions of customs officers and border guards on our western borders to European partners. Send customs officers and border guards from these border areas to combat units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Closing borders for men is not just a mistake but sabotage. This ban was imposed under the pretext of helping to fill the army, but in reality, it harms the army. According to Sviatoslav Dubyna, a caught unmotivated person sent to the army is not just ballast but a danger at the front. Meanwhile, thousands of border guards, i.e., trained and armed servicemen, on the western border are essentially protecting NATO countries from Ukrainians, which is absurd. In addition to harming the army, the ban on exit is also a colossal blow to the economy, education, demography, and democracy.

If we analyze Sviatoslav Dubyna’s proposals and the group of intellectuals around the “7 Steps to Victory,” they aim at:

‒ Reducing the state apparatus and bureaucracy during the war and cleansing collaborators and cowards from the government, as not all officials will agree to go to the front and risk their lives for the state;

‒ Significantly reducing the budget for non-military expenses and freeing up funds for military needs;

‒ Appointing key positions to state officials who have proven their dedication and right to engage in state governance during and after the war;

‒ Real, not fake, lustration of state officials and preventing their return through the courts, as the current law requires participation in combat to return to work;

‒ Allowing those officials who have already passed the test of statehood ‒ who participated in combat and are already moral authorities and statesmen ‒ to remain in their positions;

‒ Rotating at the front and replacing soldiers who have lost their combat capability and can no longer physically or morally stay in the combat zone;

‒ Helping current officials to understand the needs at the front in real-time and see the mistakes in the organization of state management;

‒ Increasing the efficiency of state management and finally putting the country on a wartime footing by filling the state apparatus and government bodies with volunteers and people with empathy who have proven their dedication and know exactly what the fighters need at the front and the cost of delays in decision-making.

Some of Sviatoslav Dubyna’s proposals may seem excessively harsh and somewhat naive. But the situation inside the country is too threatening; we must win the war against fascist Russia, and while the government is not ready to realize the need for elections, we must look for opportunities to correct the situation now. One such proposal to strengthen Ukraine is the “7 Steps to Victory.” Let’s analyze.