Ukraine’s strong territorial defence owes much to strong sense of civic duty

Russia’s attack on Ukraine was not unexpected, but its scale surprised many. “There was a common expectation of escalation in the East and the South,” says Mykhaylo Petechuk (MBA’13), who has worked for McKinsey & Company in Ukraine. “But no one expected the launch of missiles into every region of the country.”

Ukrainians responded with a strong defence, and, in an interview with Professor Karl Moore for Forbes.com, Petechuk credits a deep sense of civic solidarity cultivated during galvanizing moments like the Orange Revolution, which protested the rigged 2004 Ukrainian presidential election.