Hybrid warfare is the topic of many discussions in the modern conflicts today. However, there is not a unified definition that explains what hybrid warfare really is.
Swedish doctrines and principles say that an attack towards Sweden will include hybrid methods in the gap between peace and war. This paper examines Russia's use of hybrid warfare in Ukraine 2014 and how Ukraine's fundamental abilities got affected. The purpose with this paper is to contribute to a better understanding about hybrid warfare. But also, to use the fundamental abilities as a theory to provide for a better understanding how Sweden can counter hybrid methods in a future attack.
The analytic results reveal that the fundamental abilities were affected differently in the annexation of Crimea and the battles in eastern Ukraine. However, it can still be used as a theory to analyse hybrid methods in both scenarios. The results also provide a better understanding of hybrid warfare. To contribute to Sweden's defence against hybrid methods, the fundamental abilities as a theory should be modernised and used to provide security and preparation for the Swedish defence in a future attack.