Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Pasi Välimäki on a working visit to Ukraine

Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Pasi Välimäki was on a working visit to Ukraine last week. The visit focused on the areas of Kiev, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia. During the visit, Lieutenant General Välimäki met leadership of the Ukrainian Army, and took note of the operating of the land forces as well as command echelons of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and new capabilities. Additionally, the visit provided the opportunity to familiarise with defence industry in Ukraine.

– We continued examining learning from combat experiences from the aspects of combat arms and capabilities. It was important to be briefed directly by field commanders on how land warfare has developed over the past year. Of particular interest was to listen to and see how unmanned systems are used on missions of combat arms and in combined command and control in battle areas.  

– Ukraine has continued cost-effective and innovative development of new technologies and techniques conducted by both land forces and other forces, says Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Pasi Välimäki.

Visits to training centres allowed familiarising with specialised training of soldiers, especially as concerns operating of drones and unmanned systems. During the visit we were able to discuss differences in use cases relating to training and operational activity. Detailed observations were offered by soldiers undertaking training.

– In drone training the main factors, following the selection of suitable and receptive operators, are adequate simulation training combined with a high number of genuine flight sorties. Alongside these skills, it is necessary to master combat tactics, techniques and procedures in the grey zone contact line.

At the command echelons commanding and controlling the combat, discussions were on the battles of the early 2026 and familiarisation with the situation on the front. The use of unmanned systems jointly with other fires has inflicted significant battle damage and losses of equipment and troops on the aggressor. Commanders’, headquarters’, and forces’ confidence in their own competence and capability continues to be strong. 

In the meetings with Ukraine’s defence industry it was impressive to see how innovatively and cost-effectively weapon systems are produced to meet the needs of the nation’s armed forces. The defence industry’s companies sustain the capability and will to innovate and solve technological challenges without unit production costs spiraling out of control.