The Strategic Role of Cyber Operations in the War in Ukraine

The beginning of the war in Ukraine initially led many analysts to expect that cyber operations would have a destructive impact without precedent. Numerous forecasts predicted a large-scale digital offensive capable of paralyzing electricity networks, telecommunications, transport systems and banking services, thereby undermining Ukraine’s ability to coordinate its defense and maintain social order. Reality, however, proved significantly different. Russian cyber campaigns failed to produce the anticipated collapse and did not inflict irreversible consequences on Kyiv’s operational capacity. Although frequent and at times sophisticated, these efforts were not sufficient to replace or equal the destructive power of conventional weapons. This gap between predictions and outcomes constitutes one of the most relevant lessons of the conflict, raising critical questions about the true role of the cyber domain in future military strategies and security doctrines.