Russia Seminar looks into Russia’s future military development
The National Defence University will organize the 8th Russia Seminar in Santahamina on 11–12 February 2026. The theme of the seminar this year is "Russia's War against Ukraine – Russia's Future Military Development".
The theme will be approached by discussing the relations between the state, the armed forces and the war in Ukraine. The focus of the seminar is particularly on consequences of the war in Russia; what will change because of the war and what the effect of these changes will be on future developments.
“Previous seminars have dealt with the status of Russia, its resources, the Russian art of war and operational art, as well as the lessons learnt from the war. After four years of Russia's war, it is time for us to do some foresight and look into the future. It is important to start thinking about the consequences of the war for the future development of the Russian armed forces,” says Senior Researcher Pentti Forsström.
Senior Researcher Pentti Forsström
“It is vital to have an understanding of the factors that determine what kind of armed forces Russia will be able to build and how it will possibly use them.” Another aim is to identify factors that have so far been unacknowledged at the NDU. We wish to gain a comprehensive outlook over the future development of Russia’s military force, which we could then pass on to our officer training,” says Chief of the Russia Research Group at the NDU, Lieutenant Colonel Simo Pesu.
Russia Seminar provides results from research looking into the foundations of Russia’s military development from various perspectives. The papers presented in the seminar will shed light on the Russian thinking on their own military power, what Russia believes it to be needed for and what direction the development of their armed forces will take.
Chief of the Russia Research Group, Lieutenant Colonel Simo Pesu
International experts from Ukraine and Italy
The 8th Russia Seminar has attracted a record number of participants. There will be over 30 papers presented by international experts, and more than 50 invited guests.
“This year’s seminar is a strong indication of the acute international interest in Russia's military development. We received 60 presentation proposals, so we had to reject half of them, which was unfortunate, but the number in itself was a positive signal. It says a lot about the international reputation of both Finland and the FNDU’s Russia Research Group as well as about the scale of problems Russia is facing,” Forsström says.
We will learn about the situation in Russia from several different perspectives in the seminar. Participants include researchers from Ukraine.
“For Ukrainians, this is an existential issue which goes further back than the war that started four years ago. Ukraine's stance on Russia is very different from that of Italy, for example, which now has a participant in the seminar for the first time. Ukrainians have been fighting a full-scale war and have to pay really close attention to developments in Russia. A large group of experts from different backgrounds will talk about Russia’s possibilities in developing their armed forces, approaching the topic from various points of view,” Pesu says.
The seminar can be followed at the National Defence University Youtube channel in real time (live stream). There will also be a recording of the seminar. The programme of the seminar is available at Russia Seminar Programme – National Defence University.
