Peter J. Worswick

Executive Communication Coach | 30+ Years International Business Experience | 20+ Years Working In and With Ukraine | Helping Professionals Communicate with Clarity and Confidence Worldwide

PJW International

United Kingdom

Jan 18, 2026

What happens when an aggressor decides human life is a resource it can easily outsource? Russia’s war on Ukraine relies on missiles, drones, and artillery, but increasingly depends on outsourcing human costs too.

As Ukraine enters yet another year of full scale war, Russia has adapted its approach. While still recruiting domestically, the Kremlin is increasingly enlisting foreign nationals worldwide to keep a war of attrition alive. As of late 2025, over 18,000 foreign nationals from 128 countries have been mobilised. Many are attracted by money, while others are deceived, pressured economically, or coerced (promised work or visas), then deployed as disposable recruits.

This isn’t just about foreigners being involved; it’s about how they’re exploited, exposing the reality of the Kremlin’s system. While foreign volunteers fight for Ukraine, they do so because they are motivated by solidarity, values, and a clear understanding of the risks. Russia’s strategy is different. It externalises casualties, obscures consent, and treats lives as expendable. Losses become manageable.

Ukraine is not outsourcing its freedom. It’s defending society: cities, infrastructure, families, and as normal a life as possible under attack. Its soldiers are not consumables; they are citizens and volunteers defending an independent state. That asymmetry matters because wars of attrition rely on dehumanising suffering: a tactic intended to wear down Ukraine’s resilience, which, at its core, means the unbreakable spirit of the Ukrainian people.

Europe’s role is now decisive. Had Europe provided Ukraine with adequate support earlier, Russia’s war might have ended long ago. Yet hesitation has projected weakness, undermining Europe’s standing as a security player, even in the eyes of figures like Trump. This failure lies at the heart of the ongoing crisis and increasingly shapes the world we see taking form.

What matters is whether this strategy of outsourcing human costs is allowed to succeed. Deterrence doesn’t fail because of missing statements or frameworks; it fails when an aggressor believes endurance will outlast resolve.

Europe and the West have spent years debating escalation while escalation is already part of the aggressor’s playbook. We talk about restraint as if it were neutral, when restraint that rewards attrition is a choice, one that shapes the kind of security environment we will all inhabit.

Ukraine has proven it can resist and do much more. What remains unresolved is whether Europe has fully grasped the nature of the conflict now underway, and what it means to confront a system that survives by making human loss routine and distant.

Because if outsourcing human costs works in Ukraine, it will not stop there, and tolerating it will shape the kind of world we all have to live in.

StandWithUkraine #EuropeanSecurity #GlobalSecurity #Geopolitics #DefendDemocracy #SecurityStrategy

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Europe talks about unity. In Ukraine, unity is tested by the harsh reality of long hours without heat, light, and running water.

In the winter of 2026, that gap has never been more glaring.

Recent Russian drone and missile attacks have again targeted Ukraine’s energy system; in Kyiv and throughout the country, people often have no electricity, heat, or water as temperatures fall well below zero. This is not accidental. It is a deliberate campaign to wear down civilian resistance by making survival itself a battle.

What makes this crisis harder to accept is how long it has been allowed to continue. Nearly five years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, cities are still hit with regularity. Western leaders talk of managing escalation, yet escalation is already embedded in this war. Russia continues to target civilian infrastructure and has increased its use of Iranian-supplied drones, while civilian casualties increase. This is not a series of crises; it is a daily reality imposed on an entire people.

Pressure is also mounting beyond Ukraine’s borders. Putin maintains strong domestic control, but Russia depends on authoritarian allies like Iran, now facing serious internal unrest. Authoritarian regimes under pressure rarely back down; they lash out. As Putin’s options narrow amid war, sanctions, and fragile alliances, the risk is not one of restraint, it is one of further, calculated violence.

So the question Europe must face is clear: if Ukraine continues to endure winter bombardment without the full means to stop it, what is the strategy? Restraint is presented as responsibility, but restraint that leaves civilians without heat, water, and power is not stability. It is abdication.

Ukraine is not asking Europe to fight its battles. It’s asking for the tools to defend its people and keep society functioning. Every delay sends a message beyond Kyiv: that pressure works, democracies hesitate, and civilian suffering can be weaponised.

This moment won’t be defined by statements or photo ops. It will be defined by whether Europe turns its words into real support, helping Ukraine defend its skies, protect its infrastructure, and keep its people alive this winter. As Ukrainians face another brutal winter, it’s now up to those who say they stand with Ukraine to act.

StandWithUkraine #EuropeanSecurity #EnergySecurity #DefendDemocracy #CivilianProtection #RuleOfLaw

Comment from :

James Kelly

Through Trump and our current government can we deny that by not supporting Ukraine we are supporting Putin and the world order that looks for domination not freedom 🙏

Natalie Janosik

James Kelly : Speaking as a Ukrainian, this isn’t an abstract debate for us. When the world steps back, Putin steps forward. We’re simply asking for the chance to live free, not under domination.

Edward Woycenko

IMO, Europe does a lot of talking, but takes little action.

Daniel L.

👀🫵🫵🏻🫵🏼 What a brilliant move by France and Ukraine, providing the Trump regime false classified intelligence just to see if it would be provided to Putin.
“𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.”‼️

No further intelligence will be provided to the US for the foreseeable future by any European nation.