The Russia-Ukraine War - Ep 2 - The Invasion

Series Description: The world is constantly changing and in an interconnected world we are more exposed to risk than ever. Businesses and countries alike need to understand these risks and prepare for them. Its important to know that risks also impact people and society and as such personal resilience is just as important as organizational resilience. 

As part of the podcast, professional risk managers will share their experience in building such resilience, being in the middle of extreme situations.

The Russia-Ukraine War Episodes: focuses on risk management during the biggest military conflict in Europe since World War II. The head of risk management function of the largest private energy holding in Ukraine will share the experience of risk management during the Russia-Ukraine war, adaptability to work in war conditions and the importance of real adherence to ESG.

In this episode, Alexander Larsen speaks to Mykhailo Rushkovskyi who is based in Kyiv about the invasion itself. Mykhailo shares his experience of evacuating Kyiv, what considerations were needed, what plans he had in place (including routes and petrol stations) and how businesses focused on recovery.

For further information about Mykhailo and his career, you can find the Risk Managers Getting Coffee series on: https://youtube.com/riskguide

02:00 - How the invasion started and what were the immediate actions?
04:50 - What are the emotions when something like this happens?
09:04 - What did Mykhailo do when the invasion happened? How did he evacuate?
12:00 - What research and preparation did Mykhailo need in order to prepare?
15:00 - How long did it take to get to safety and to get back to work (and what did that look like?)
22:00 - Mykhailo discusses communications, platforms for communications and rules.
25:00 - How did businesses prepare and what did they expect of staff? What does good plans vs bad plans look like?
31:30 - Importance of Early Warning Signals / Key Risk Indicators in order to focus evacuation
32:38 - Importance of clarity for staff and empowering staff, ensuring they know their roles.
35:15 - What were the key learnings? what would you focus on next time?
39:40 - The importance of testing plans!
41:00 - What did organisations need to focus on from a recovery point of view?