Ukraine’s fight for its existence has seen it transform itself significantly since Vladimir Putin’s invasion in 2022.
It has raised and trained a civilian army, revolutionised the use of drones on the modern day battlefield and is now seeking to turn paperless in a bid to purge itself of Soviet-era, bureaucratic red tape.
Last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky and top government officials unveiled the new ‘Army+’ app which aims to streamline important clerical and administrative processes.
Kateryna Chernohorenko, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister in charge of digital transformation efforts said: “We are transforming the Ukrainian military into the army of the future.”
Within weeks, the app had 150,000 registered users but with an army of one million people, there is work to be done to inform soldiers of the app’s benefits and encourage them to sign up.
Currently, the app is limited to a few basic functions but there are plans to extend the capability significantly in the coming months.
Creators have ambitious plans to create the first-ever unified military database in Ukraine and develop a full-fledged digital interface for interaction between soldiers, army commanders, and the state.
Establishing the app as a functional, effective tool would see Ukraine managing their soldiers digitally in a similar way to how other NATO countries manage theirs.
But implementation is not without issue. There is hesitancy amongst some bureaucrats, distrust of government reforms and outstanding legal issues surrounding the framework of the app.
Only 11 types of reports out of nearly 200 used in military service are currently available on the app. However, this is the first time soldiers have the opportunity to send reports digitally instead of submitting them on paper, which is notoriously time-consuming and frustrating for the military.
Throughout the war, soldiers have consistently complained of reports being rejected for pedantic, groundless reasons such as being filled out in the wrong colour pen or the type of paper leading to claims that some soldiers have taken to risking their lives rather than using automated drones, out of fear of having to explain the loss in a laborious report.
In the days leading up to the launch, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry legalised the use of digital reports and formalised the requirements for paper ones.
Daria Tarasenko, a lawyer from Kyiv who often explains military-related laws on her Facebook page for almost 100,000 followers, told the Kyiv Independent that he rates the legislation highly.
Tarasenko said: “The regulation doesn’t have a direct order for the commanders to use it, but it says that each commander is obliged to tell his subordinates his own ID number.”
The Ministry has urged soldiers to report commanders who fail to share their ID number in a bid to encourage its wider use amongst the Ukrainian armed forces.