In world history, from ancient times to the late Middle Ages, warriors were trying to encase themself into armor as military affairs, economies, and craftsmanship in their countries developed. The pinnacle of this trend was the knight’s armor, which not only provided protection but also served as a means of self-expression, status, and nobility for its wearer. The image of a knight in shining armour is inseparably associated with honour, valour, courage, and strength.
Evolution of warfare
As time passed, the world and warfare evolved. Line infantry, recruited from common people and armed with pikes and muskets, almost completely replaced the concept of a warrior clad in steel and iron.
The “new” trend of that time followed the principle: “the more soldiers on the battlefield, the less armor they wear.” For example, during the Napoleonic Wars, cuirasses and helmets remained only in elite cavalry units, whose very name—"cuirassiers"—came from their protective armor. Even here, reductions occurred: for instance, Russian cuirassiers, unlike their French counterparts, wore a shortened cuirass that covered only the front of the torso—the chest and abdomen.
At the turn of the century
As for line infantry, they had no protection besides their muskets, faith in their captain, and endless drills. And this remained the norm for quite a long time.
It wasn’t until World War I, that fundamentaly changed batllefield. From that point on, the more modern war became, the more protective gear soldiers began to wear again. First, the helmet became an essential element, and later, after the Vietnam and Afghan wars, the first versions of bulletproof vests began appearing on regular soldiers.
Body armour for specialists
Then, full body armour make new appereanse after long absence - some kind of combat engineers in late 1990s start to use full body armour, desighned to create possibilyty of survival in case that something will go wrong in process of demining. This was realy huge costumes, that were more loking like old diving suites than armour, that provides decent protection, but makes independent movement nearly imposiible. Having all body protection higher than IV+ class armour is good idea, but you still need to be maneurable enough in combat of late 90s, 00s and 10s. Modern combat with multiplied numbers of treats to human health requires from protective gear balance between weight, class of protection and protected area of soldiers body.
Current situation in the Ukrainian Army
It so happened that the ancestors of our heroes, who will be discussed in this book, had their own military tradition Zaporizhian Cossacks. These were, at their core, simple but free people who lacked the resources to create and maintain the protective armor of their time, but with their own understanding of knighthood and gentlemanly characteristics.
But their descendants—modern Ukrainian knights—have become the first in the world to fully equip themselves with protective gear on a massive scale to meet the demands of modern warfare. And now, with the visors of their helmets lowered, they must fight for the virtues of free and courageous people, just like their prefiguration in shining armor.
As the author and editor of Safar Publishing, I started researching and working on this topic to invite you to get closer to these modern knights, explore their armour, learn about its history, and examine each element and component of the modern protective gear worn by Ukrainian soldiers.
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