Local government has a special place in the democratic mechanism of governing society and a state. The modernization of local self-government in post-Soviet Russia is at its early stage. Today we can only talk about some positive trends in this process. First of all, it should be noted that local self-government has both a special subject, which is the population, citizens and a special object of management: issues of local importance. Besides, one of the basic concepts that characterize the essence of local self-government as a form of organization and exercise of power is independence. Like any other form of social self-government, local government is a powerful means of activating a political system, democratic institutions, individual citizens, and of combating bureaucracy and formalism in the work of state governing bodies. Every country at peace has the potential to be at war; likewise, countries at war (cold or hot) have the potential to experience peace. Either way, public administration appears to be the only constant factor; hence the main aim of examining its role in managing the war between Russia and Ukraine. The study was anchored on the theory of administrative behaviour. A qualitative research design was adopted in this study. Data for the study were obtained from secondary sources. The research objectives were to: establish the role of public administration in the management of war; and compare how public administration has shaped the management of war in Ukraine and Russia. Findings from this study revealed among others, that public administration in wartime plays a role in entrenching a harmonious society by taking advantage of the opportunities to create a stable social environment. For instance, while public administration in Russia plays the role of justifying the invasion of Ukraine and causing war, it plays the role of justifying defence in Ukraine and showing citizens the efforts of the government in ensuring they are safe amid ‗instability‘. To this end, the study recommends that countries or nations of the world should not only learn from this war but strengthen their respective public administration institutions for effective and efficient service utilization.