(In)compatibilities and complementarities between aid initiatives engaged in total/comprehensive defence and humanitarian organisations amid armed conflict

The PhD project aims to explore the relational dynamics and the degree of (in)compatibility or complementarity between humanitarian actors and organisations or civil society initiatives providing aid to civilians while simultaneously contributing to the military defence of a party to the conflict in Ukraine.

In The Russia-Ukraine War: Towards Resilient Fighting Power, Fedorchak (2024) outlines how civil society initiatives have been contributing to total/comprehensive defence mechanisms throughout the armed conflicts unfolding in Ukraine since 2014, and after the Russian military aggression launched in 2022. While Fedorchak focuses on civilian organisations and groups dedicating their efforts to supporting the military infrastructure of Ukraine, Cullen Dunn and Kaliszewska (2023) and the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS, 2024) describe the role of aid initiatives implementing hybrid activities, providing support to civilians while simultaneously contributing to Ukraine's military defence.

In my previous research, I analysed the modus operandi of one such organisation and argue that this approach denotes a paradigm shift in the debate around neutrality and impartiality within humanitarian actors in the context of armed conflict. I further make explicit how these aid initiatives are “better characterised as part of a total defence mechanism, rather than a conventional humanitarian response” (Cuscuna, 2025).

So, how do humanitarian actors address this shift from to stay and deliver, to aid and defend?