Thursday, 8 May, Victory Day
Kyiv EEST
Session
08:00
Registration
09:00
Flower-laying ceremony at the Stele of Ukrainian Heroes
Mykhailivska Square
09:50
Guests are kindly invited to take their seats
10:00
Opening Ceremony
National Anthem of Ukraine
The National Anthem of Ukraine is performed by the Choir of the Honored Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Chief Choirmaster – Tiberii YATSKULYNETS
Violinist – Moisei BONDARENKO,
serviceman of the Unmanned Systems Forces.
10:05 - 10:20
Our Vision
Victory in Unity: Ukraine, Allies, and the Power of Belief
Founder and Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum, Prime Minister of Ukraine (2014-16)
10:20 - 11:00
Admiral Giuseppe Cavo DRAGONE
Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
Gen. Robert BRIEGER
Chairman of the European Union Military Committee
Gen. Jennie CARIGNAN
Chief of the Defense Staff of Canada
Gen. Michael CLAESSON
Chief of Defense, Sweden
Gen. Erik KRISTOFFERSON
Chief of Defense, Norway
Admiral Sir Antony David RADAKIN
Chief of the Defense Staff, United Kingdom
General Frederik VANSINA
Chief of Defense, Belgium
Ukrainian Defenders
Moderator
Commander of the Unmanned Systems Battalion, 44th Separate Mechanized Brigade
Deputy Company Commander of Strike Unmanned Aerial Systems
First Corps Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine
Chief Medical Officer, 3rd Separate Assault Brigade
Moderator
Senior Research Associate, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center
11:00 - 11:05
11:05 - 11:30
Keynote Speech & Conversation
European Commissioner for Defense and Space
Founder and Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum, Prime Minister of Ukraine (2014-16)
11:30 - 12:30
Minister of Defense of Belgium
Chair of the NATO Military Committee (2021-25)
Chief Professional Conduct and Culture of the Canadian Armed Forces,
Commander of Joint Task Force Afghanistan Air Wing in Kandahar (2010-11),
Director of the Coalition Air Operations Center in Doha, Qatar (2018)
Director, Joint Planning and Command Staff & Director Special Staff for Ukraine, Ministry of Defense, Germany
Undersecretary of State of the Defense Ministry, Latvia
Strategic Advisor at Directorate of Strategic Plans and Policy at the Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Sweden
Moderator
Senior Research Associate, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center
12:30 - 13:15
Coffee Break
13:15 - 13:30
Special Briefing
Yurii YAKYMENKO
President of the Razumkov Centre (Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Studies named after Olexander Razumkov)
Public Affairs Associate at the Kyiv Security Forum
13:30 - 14:15
Columnist, The Washington Post
CEO, Rasmussen Global
Director of the Instituto Affari Internazionale, Italy
U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations (2017-19)
Chairman of the Berlin Security Conference
Moderator
Director of the Kyiv Security Forum
14:15 - 15:00
Senior Fellow, The Intelligence Project Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Harvard Kennedy School
Former CIA Chief of Operations for Europe and Eurasia
Former CIA Chief of Operations for the Counterterrorism Center,
Chief of the Central Eurasia Division,
and Chief of the Information Operations (Cyber) Center
U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO (2013-17)
Moderator
Deputy Director of the U.S. National Intelligence for Mission Integration (2019-21)
15:00 - 15:45
Head of the Center for Civil Liberties, 2022 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Maksym BUTKEVYCH
Philosopher, War Veteran & Human Rights Activist
He volunteered to defend Ukraine in 2022, was captured by Russian forces, unjustly sentenced to 13 years in prison, and later released in a prisoner exchange in October 2024.
Svitlana TOLMACH
Bank Worker & Beauty Industry Enthusiast
She survived a Russian missile attack on a residential area in Kryvyi Rih on 4 April 2025.
Professor of the University of Liverpool
He was a direct witness to the Russian missile strike in Sumy on April 13, 2025, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of innocent people.
Leader of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, Minister of National Defense of Lithuania (2024)
Chief culture writer Guardian News & Media, United Kingdom
Moderator
Head of Executive Board, INDEX
15:00 - 16:00
Side Event in cooperation with the Frontier Institute
Venue: Maidan Hall, 2nd Floor
Yevhen HLIBOVYTSKY
Director General, The Frontier Institute
Yulia MARUSHEVSKA
Head of the Change Support Office, Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
Olesia OSTROVSKA-LIUTA
Director General, Mystetskyi Arsenal
Moderator
Francis FARRELL
Senior Correspondent, The Kyiv Independent
15:45 - 16:30
Chair in Modern European History, supported by the Temerty Endowment for Ukrainian Studies, University of Toronto, and Richard C. Levin Professor of History, Yale University
Executive Director, McCain Institute
Ambassador of Lithuania to Sweden, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lithuania (2012-20)
Member of The First of December Initiative Group, Advisor to the Rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University
Author and Journalist
Historian, Member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Moderator
Head of Human Rights and War Memorialization Center, Kyiv School of Economics
16:00 - 17:00
Side Event in cooperation with Donbas.Realities Project | Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Ukrainian Service
Venue: Maidan Hall, 2nd Floor
Serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,
Consultant, “Come Back Alive!” Initiatives Center
Until May 2023, he worked as a journalist at Donbas.Realities, a project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which he had been developing since 2016.
Journalist and Presenter, Donbas.Realities
He has been reporting on the war in eastern Ukraine since 2015 and has been with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty since 2018. He is the author of numerous frontline reports and analytical pieces on Russia’s war against Ukraine. In December 2022, he became the first Ukrainian journalist to report on the liberation of Zmiinyi Island in the Black Sea. In October 2024, he suffered a concussion from a Russian shelling while filming Ukrainian forces in the Bakhmut sector of Donetsk region.
Journalist and Editor, Radio Donbas.Realities
She has been with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty since 2015. In 2019, she received the “Honor of the Profession” award for Best Reportage.
Moderator
Journalist and Presenter, Donbas.Realities
He has been covering the war in eastern Ukraine since 2014 and joined Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2017. He is a three-time finalist of the “Honor of the Profession” award in the Best Commentary category.
16:30 - 16:45
Coffee Break
16:45 - 17:45
Special Guest
Henna VIRKKUNEN (online)
Executive Vice-President of the European Commission
for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy
In her featured remarks, Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, is invited to outline the strategic imperatives for defending democracy in a new era shaped by both military aggression and disruptive technologies.
Member of the KSF Security Council, Commander of U.S. Central Command (2008-10), Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (2011-12)
Member of the European Parliament, Finland, Director of the Intelligence Division of the Finnish Defense Command (2019-20)
Senior Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center
Senior Research Fellow for Land Warfare, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)
Entrepreneur & Investor
Chairman of the Center for Defense Strategies, Minister of Defense of Ukraine (2019-20)
Moderator
Journalist & News Presenter
17:00 - 17:45
Side Event in cooperation with The Brenthurst Foundation (South Africa)
Venue: Maidan Hall, 2nd Floor
Dr. Greg MILLS
Director of The Brenthurst Foundation, Advisory Board Member of RUSI
Solomia BOBROVSKA
Member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Ray HARTLEY
Director of Research at The Brenthurst Foundation, former Editor at The Sunday Times
Hryhoriy NEMYRIA
First Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Moderator
Jack WRIGHT
Journalist & Columnist The Washington Post and The Australian Financial Review
17:45 - 18:15
Distinguished Fellow, Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA)
Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA)
Frédéric PETIT
Member of the National Assembly of France
Moderator
CNN Global Affairs Analyst & Contributor
18:15 - 18:25
Ukraine’s Path to Europe: Securing Freedom, Defeating Aggression
Deputy Prime Minister
for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine –
Minister of Justice of Ukraine
Ukraine’s irreversible course toward the EU and NATO is vital for the strength and unity of the Euro-Atlantic community. On the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazism in the World War II, this commitment is the key to defeating Putin’s Russia and securing lasting peace in Europe.
18:25 - 19:25
Michael LAWLER (video address)
U.S. Congressman
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (2015-17),
U.S. Ambassador to OSCE (2021-24)
Member of the KSF Security Council, Chairperson of the Aspen Institute Kyiv Supervisory Board, Minister of Finance of Ukraine in 2014-16
Independent expert on International Relations, Non-Resident Fellow at the Lowy Institute
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution,
Affiliate of the Center for International Security and Cooperation,
Stanford University,
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (1998-2000)
Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council,
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (2006-09 & 2019-20)
Amb. Stephen SESTANOVICH
George F. Kenna Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies,
Council on Foreign Relations,
Professor Emeritus for the Practice of International Diplomacy,
Columbia University,
Ambassador-at-large, U.S. State Department (1997-2001)
Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council,
Deputy Secretary General of NATO (2012-16)
Moderator
CNN Global Affairs Analyst & Contributor
19:30
