War In Donbas Research Articles

Devolution or Decapitation? Decentralization During Conflict in Ukraine

ABSTRACT Decentralization in Ukraine is lauded as the most successful of the country’s reforms. The devolution of power to local government has not been without controversy; however, as decentralization proceeded during the war in Donbas. This article critiques Ukrainian’s decentralization based on two promises of this reform: the weakening of oligarchic power and the empowerment of Ukrainians. Utilizing a feminist political economy framework, with relational ontological commitments, this paper argues that decentralization has, rather, empowered Ukrainian elites while marginalizing vulnerable groups during the war. To address political disempowerment and/or economic inequality, this paper concludes, decentralization must address the totality that structures social relations.

Instytucje i organizacje w Monachium na rzecz uchodźców – wybrane aspekty

Russia’s war in Ukraine has been ongoing since 2014, but initially Russian actions took the form of a hybrid war. Ukraine was in peaceful relations with the rest of the world when Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimea without a declaration of war and waged war in Donbass. Its full-scale scope, launched on February 24, 2022, was unprecedented in post-war Europe and caused several million people living in the invaded country to leave Ukrainian territory. The purpose of this article is to show how organizations and institutions in Munich are addressing the influx of refugees into the city, including refugees from Ukraine. As a research hypothesis, it was assumed that in Germany, including Munich, the German experience of 2015 and subsequent years in accepting newcomers from the Middle East played a huge role in solving the problems of refugees from Ukraine after February 24, 2022. The basic research problems are contained in questions such as: what changes in asylum law have been made in Germany by the federal government; who in the city of Munich is entitled to assistance and what benefits does it cover?; what is the assistance to refugees provided by the Office for Housing and Migration in Munich?; what does the Office for the Prevention of Homelessness do?; what are the tasks of the Local Mediation Office?; what are the competencies of the so-called Social Service for the Deaf?; what is the scope of activities of the Office of Return Assistance?; what are the return offices in Bavaria?; what are the activities of the Office for Intercultural Work?; what is the scope of activities of the Foreign Qualification Development Service Center? The leading research method used in the research conducted is institutionallegal analysis.

대러시아 관계에 있어 우크라이나의 지정학적 분열에 대한 다중스케일적 접근

Ukraine has been geopolitically divided along the Dnieper: the pro-European Union west region versus the pro-Russia east. Such a geopolitical division has played a critical role in recent Russia-Ukraine relations and conflicts, including the 2014 Crimean Crisis, the Donbas War, and the Russo-Ukrainian War. This study casts a question as to why Ukraine shows a noticeable geopolitical division. Geographical distances or proximities do not provide a proper answer to that question; for example, eastern Ukraine was the spatial background of the spread of Ukrainian nationalism in the 19th century. In this respect, this study adopted the multiscalar approach to analyze various scalar factors and actors and their relations that influence the geographical division of Ukraine. The results of this study suggest that multiscalar factors and actors, including the change of Ukrainian territories and the scalar differences in the influence of Russia caused by the territorial change, the geographical scale of Ukrainian industry and economy, the state-building of Ukraine in the post-Soviet era, and neighboring states’ influences and diplomatic strata and their interrelations, The results of this study may provide significant contributions to an in-depth understanding of the geopolitical characteristics of Ukraine and international and geopolitical issues related to the country.

Transfer traumy. Monografia zbiorowa Літературний образ дитинства в часи кризи pod redakcją Katarzyny Jakubowskiej-Krawczyk

The text is a review of a collective monograph Літературний образ дитинства в часи кризи edited by Katarzyna Jakubowska-Krawczyk. The book is about the issues of childhood in times of crisis. Researchers from Poland and Ukraine analyze various issues, such as World War II, the Holocaust, the totalitarian regime, homelessness and the ongoing war in Donbas. The book uses the modern method of postcolonial studies and trauma research from the generational transfer perspec- tive. It deals with very important issues.

Ukraine’s security and Pakistan’s security: mechanisms to overcome threats

The sphere of security plays an important role in the domestic and foreign policy of states. In this regard, the object of the study were security threats that determine stability in Ukraine and Pakistan. The authors used the method of comparative analysis to draw parallels between the security of Ukraine and Pakistan and identify possible ways to improve it. It is concluded that, both Ukraine and Pakistan are quite geopolitically distant, have different histories and state-building processes, but are affected by traditional and "non-traditional" security threats. Definitely, the main unifying factor for the states is the antagonistic or "enemy" state - India for Pakistan and Russia for Ukraine, which becomes a catalyst for the formation of national identity and unity of society. The conflicts in Pakistan (Kashmir, Baluchistan and Pashtunistan) and Ukraine (war in Donbass, illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation) have had common consequences and mechanisms for overcoming them, which are implemented in the context of the internal and state policy of both Kiev and Islamabad.

The Republic of Poland in the United Nations Security Council (2018 – 2019) and the Ukrainian Question

The purpose of the paper is to highlight the activities of the representatives of the Republic of Poland in the UN Security Council in the status of a non-permanent member in 2018-2019, in particular regarding the resolving of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The method of content analysis of state program documents, Internet portals of the government of the Republic of Poland and the United Nations, and scientific literature was used in the implementation of the goal. The problem-chronological method made it possible to trace the history of the participation of the Republic of Poland in the UN. The methodology is based on the principles of historicism and objectivity. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the new understanding of the role of Polish diplomacy in the UN Security Council after the occupation of Crimea and the start of Russia's hybrid war in Donbas. The analysis made it possible to formulate the following conclusions. The Republic of Poland – one of the founding states of the UN – tried to be an active member of the organization, including by participating in the work of its main bodies. Poland was elected a non-permanent member of the Security Council six times. The main priorities of Polish diplomacy at the UN Security Council in 2018-2019 included: respect for international law, protection of civilians in armed conflicts, peace and security in Eastern Europe. Much attention was paid to the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which, thanks to the Polish side, did not disappear from the body's agenda and was discussed in various contexts. The Polish delegates consistently reminded about the negative impact of the violation of international law and agreements by the Russian Federation, the situation in the occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas, and in the Black and Azov seas. They tried to present the consequences of the occupation of Crimea and the war in Donbas not only as a problem of regional security, but also as a global challenge to the international legal order. The Polish state made a significant contribution to the formation and strengthening of the international coalition in support of Ukraine in countering the aggression of the Russian Federation. An obstacle to an effective resolution of the Ukrainian issue was primarily the specificity and composition of the UN Security Council, where non-permanent members play only a limited role, and one of the permanent members is an aggressor country. The example of the debate surrounding the resolution of the Ukrainian issue once again proves the deficit of UN deep reform

Topos of War in Modern Ukrainian Combatant Prose

The paper deals with the problem of the literary development process during the war. The object of analysis is combatant prose, which would not exist without wars. The human culture is strongly shocked in war circumstances, that affect both society and the individuality, and this experience becomes the driving force for the emergence of art patterns that are inherent only in a certain time frame. Combatant literature is a phenomenon that appears after each war, but at the same time it is tied to an era that generates its own characteristics. The Russian-Ukrainian war, which began in 2014 as the Donbas War, was a tragedy that prompted its participants to begin describing their unique experiences as well. The paper states that the reasons for the appearance of combatants texts are more in the need for self-reflection than in the desire to write a work of art. In fact, it is not surprising that many of these texts are not entirely artistic. This is why a large number of texts are close to documentaries and are subjective in thoughts expression, and the dominant genre is that of diaries and memoirs. The main subject of the study is the topos of war in combatant prose, which is considered on the basis of the books written both by fighters who have no writing experience and by professional writers who participated in fight in the eastern Ukraine. Analysis of the texts showed that, despite the differences in writing experience, they have common features, which can be traced at the level of the war topos reflection. The study concluded that the topos of war in combatant prose also appeared as a space of change in addition to the space of trauma and death, by getting into it, the characters change both externally and internally, and the latest changes are irreversible.

Failing to Fight for the “Russian World”: Pre-War Social Origins of the Pro-Russian Secessionist Organizations in Ukraine

AbstractThe existing literature explains the war in Donbas and the rationale for why conflict broke out there while failing to do so in other Ukrainian provinces, such as Odesa or Kharkiv. Local pro-Russian organizations could not attract considerable attention and support in the pre-war period in all parts of Ukraine, except for Crimea. The social marginalization and negligible influence of the pro-Russian organizations among the locals presumably stemmed from their weak social ties among the local population. The question is why they had such weak social embeddedness in the local societies despite relatively popular pro-Russian sympathies in these regions? Surprisingly, nobody has sought to explain the social origins of the pro-Russian movements as a source of their weakness and failure to be sparked by the anti-Ukrainian rebellion in 2014.

Pax McDonaldica before the storm: From geopolitical fault‐line to urbicide in Mariupol, Ukraine

AbstractUntil 24 February 2022, when Russia launched its full‐scale attack on Ukraine, Mariupol, like many other Ukrainian government‐controlled cities in the country's eastern regions, was trying to reinvent and rebrand itself as a modern European city. But it was missing something: the golden arches, that ubiquitous symbol of globalisation that can be found in almost any medium‐sized city in Europe. Because McDonald's restaurants are perceived as powerful symbols of global capitalism and of Western or American culture, the establishment of new McDonald's restaurants has sometimes been challenged – even violently – by nationalist or anti‐globalist forces. In Mariupol, which lost its status as a ‘McDonald's city’ at the beginning of the Donbas war in 2014, this was not the case. In this intervention, I describe how the restaurant was a symbolic centrepiece of local debates taking place in this geopolitical fault‐line city, where deep divisions surrounding foreign policy and geopolitical preferences carried the potential for volatile and unpredictable urban conflict, trumping most frictions related to the city's diverse ethno‐national structure. In its role as globally signifying flagship, McDonald's had generated an area of popular and political consensus – a Pax McDonaldica – while also acting as a (welcome?) distraction from a low‐intensity war that had already lasted for eight years. This all came to an end when Russia attacked Ukraine, destroying much of the city, killing man thousands, forcefully displacing or deporting hundreds of thousands, and terrorising those left behind.

Turning Ukrainians into a separate nation

Abstract Ukraine's national identity was born out of historical events which impacted the regions in Ukraine differently. In western and central parts of Ukraine, the people tend to be more pro-Western, while in the eastern and southern parts of the country, the people are more pro-Russian. This difference emerged from two approaches to the Ukrainian identity. The pro-Western part of the country believes that they were a separate nation from the Russians and should break ties with Russia. The pro-Russian part believes that the Ukrainians and the Russians are the same nation or two brotherhood nations that should stand together against outside threats. This paper will analyze which key historical events were the roots of the Ukrainian national identity and where the differences between the regional approaches are laying. This difference between pro-Western and pro-Russian attitudes influenced the Ukrainian political landscape from its independence until 2014. After the Revolution of Dignity, the occupation of Crimea, and the war in Donbas, the political situation started to change towards more pro-Western policies. The invasion in 2022 could be the final nail in the coffin of the Ukrainian-Russian brotherhood, and it might erase the last difference between the two parts of Ukraine.

Strategical orientators of the information policy of Ukraine in the conditions of external aggression

National security is not just about the army and professional intelligence services. This is the quality of human capital and the maturity of civil society. Its stability, effi ciency, and cohesion. This is the number of bearers of critical thinking, which allows to identify dangers and counteract provocations. First of all, we are talking about authoritarian regimes, such as China and Russia, which systematically spend huge sums of money to destabilize the free world. On the other hand, misconceptions about the world governance system, World War II, one’s own history, the war in Donbas, the Holodomor, the Holocaust, or the coronavirus infection always work in the interests of those who seek to subdue and manipulate people. An eff ective mechanism for information expansion is indulgence in the crowd’s low instincts to channel the crowd’s negative energy in the right direction. One of the most powerful engines of Putin’s propaganda, hatred, has been used against Ukraine. The current Russian propaganda, which replaces diplomacy, «destroys souls» worse than the Soviet one, which, although visually more visible, did not penetrate so deeply into human consciousness. Psychologists point out that the greatest danger of misconceptions lies in people’s sometimes overly sincere belief in their own illusions. They are tightly closed from counter-arguments, are hostile to those with a diff erent vision, and turn into those «useful idiots» who are the easiest to manipulate. People with a mythological consciousness live in a world of simplifi ed reality, where mysticism defeats science, Facebook – competent scientists, and archaism – rational thinking. They are the most prone to conspiracy theories. The bearers of mythological consciousness stubbornly spread messages about the omnipotence of some and the helplessness of others: this corresponds to their picture of the world. Information security of the state is inextricably linked with the introduction of relevant ideology, culture, values, the formation of public consciousness, where the key role is given to the media, and more precisely to information technology. The latter should be part of public policy to protect all categories of citizens from the negative impact of the digital virtual environment, and above all, children. Media literacy and digital hygiene should become compulsory subjects of the school curriculum (at the level of computer science, programming basics, and classes designed to socialize future voters, taxpayers, responsible citizens); the topic of television and radio programs; the subject of discussion in the columns of the print media; screenplay for documentaries and feature fi lms; reports of public fi gures and government offi cials. Key words: information policy, information security, civic culture, consolidation of society.

The effectiveness of climate financing intermediaries: comparative study of Kazakhstan and Ukraine

This research is focused on identifying the effectiveness of climate financing intermediaries based on the comparative study of Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Main aim of the research is to analyze main differences of activities of financing intermediaries in distinct states. Kazakhstan and Ukraine, two CIS countries have similar environmental description, but not alike commitments to climate issues. Ukraine is the best post-Soviet country through climate change performance indicators, while Kazakhstan is believed to be in the bottom of this list worldwide. The hypothesis testing showed that the quantity of the intermediaries in the state does not play a vital role, as three global intermediaries as EIB, EBRD, and IBRD that can be found in both states, showed different performance, resulting being more active and advanced in Ukraine than in Kazakhstan. This relates to the state’s general interest in committing more actions into its own environmental policies. Kazakhstan, according to postcolonial theory, emphasizes economic benefits more than environment, whereas Ukraine pays more attention to renewable energy and climate change. Therefore, what makes the intermediary better in Ukraine is its close cooperation with the global institutions that provide such financing. After the Euromaidan and war in Donbass, Ukraine changed its political direction to Europe, where largest intermediary – EBRD – is based. To maintain independence from Russia, Ukraine strongly determined to switch to renewable energy. That is why its cooperation with EBRD, and other intermediaries is substantially emphasized by government.

Totalitarianism and Ukrainian Literature: Traumatic Memory and Revelation of the Past

The article highlights the topic of totalitarianism in Ukrainian literature, in particular, shows the traumatic memory and exposure of the past, which is interpreted differently by writers of different generations. Particular attention is paid to the causes of totalitarianism in Europe after the World War I and its impact on modern post-totalitarian cultures. Such cultures include primarily Ukrainian. Numerous social protests, revolutions, the war in Donbass are not so much the consequences of geopolitical conflicts as permanent attempts to return to the Ukrainian identity, to express national traumas, to identify cultural and human losses, which did not happen immediately after the collapse of the USSR. The problem of totalitarianism is also key in determining the specifics of its modern literary interpretation, because most works of art, which to varying degrees appeal to the reconstruction of the past, for the first time clearly verbalize those relevant topics that are still inconvenient and provoke misunderstandings among Ukrainians themselves.
 Today Ukrainian literature demonstrates a double stance against the totalitarian past. First, we read in it a steady protest against the socialist-realist heritage, embodied in the long search for inherent forms of artistic self-expression; secondly, modern Ukrainian literature resorted to a total revision of the consequences of cultural stagnation provoked by the experience of many years of totalitarian terror.
 The article reveals the connections between this regime and the art of speech, in particular the birth of the pseudo-artistic literary trend of the time - social realism. The author analyzes the peculiarities of the use of literature as a tool of propaganda. In addition, one of the main problems of modern research is the modern ways of artistic rethinking and the process of elaboration of totalitarian experience. In particular, it is about the cultural trauma of oppressed peoples in the Soviet period, which is related to human rights and freedoms, concentration camps, desecration of the myth of victory in World War II, denial of God, etc., which affects the behavior of modern societies and often provokes unpredictable in European politics.

Making war safe for capitalism: The World Bank and its evolving interventions in conflict

The World Bank has asserted a dominant role in post-conflict peacebuilding and during war itself. This article critiques the World Bank’s evolving approach to war and peace through both a qualitative analysis of recent strategic documents and a case study of the Bank’s engagement in Ukraine during the war in Donbas. I identify three prominent themes that inform the World Bank’s evolving strategy for engaging in conflict-affected conditions, which may impact the possibilities for peace, whether conceptualized as negative, positive or a feminist peace. First, the rhetorical importance of governance is concretized to emphasize business solutions to economic and political problems; second, the conflict-affected population is reimagined in terms of human capital, emphasizing entrepreneurship and resilience; and third, private capital is presented as a saviour. I argue that, in practice, these imperatives lead to a further withdrawal of the state when social assistance and protection are most needed, the instrumentalization of the conflict-affected populace as receptacles of resilience and vassals of economic growth, and an emphasis on private capital as the principal social group to the exclusion of real people. I conclude by questioning whether World Bank reforms during conflict can positively contribute to peace.

The Development of National Cinema in Post-Maidan Ukraine

Since the Euromaidan revolution, Ukrainian cinema has been experiencing a renaissance, associated with both the wave of civic and creative activity and the policy of the post-Maidan authorities supporting the film industry. The article analyzes the development of Ukrainian cinema from 2014 to 2019, focusing not only on organizational, institutional, and legal changes but also on the accompanying controversies. It addresses the main socio-political, economic, and cultural factors influencing progress in the number of films produced in Ukraine and their popularization on the domestic and foreign market. The article particularly emphasizes the context of Russian aggression toward Ukraine and the ongoing war in Donbas, as it influences not only the topics taken up by filmmakers but also the priorities of authorities in the field of cultural policy. Cinema has become one of the fronts of the conflict. Thus, the post-Maidan authorities’ concern was both to block Russian content deemed dangerous from the point of view of national security and to produce and promote “Ukrainian-centric” narratives. The last part of the article will discuss the new Ukrainian “patriotic cinema,” supported and subsidized by the state, with a focus on the role it plays in a society experiencing conflict.

Badanie ukraińskich wspólnot ewngelikalnych poprzez misyjne narracje biograficzne

By focusing on missionary narratives, the article offers a short description of the Ukrainian evangelical communities that have developed in Poland since 2014. Arguing that the outbreak of the war in Donbass was a decisive moment that shaped the waves of migrations from Ukraine, the article tries to analyze the strategy of reconstructing the biographies of Ukrainian evangelicals in the Polish cultural context. Using the categories of migrants and missionaries as biographical types, the article contextualizes the meaning of evangelicalism through its Ukrainian and Polish variations, and at the same time refers to the processes that are occur ring in evangelical Christianity globally.

Features of Modern Ukrainian Military Prose (on the example of Bohdan Zholdak’s film story “Ukry” and Yevhen Polozhii’s novel “Ilovaisk”)

The purpose of the article is to study the artistic features of Bohdan Zholdak’s military prose "Ukry" and Yevhen Polozhii’s "Ilovaisk". The methodological basis of the study is complex and is based mainly on the tools of traditional literary studies (comparative-typological, comparative-historical and specific-textual types of literary analysis) using elements of motivational analysis. The article examines military prose as a phenomenon of modern Ukrainian literature; genre diversity of works dedicated to the realities of the anti-terrorist operation and the war in Donbas; the main problems that writers raise. It is determined that Bohdan Zholdak’s film story “Ukry” shows “a noble, active, strong hero who defends freedom, justice and universal ideals.” Zholdak’s style (burlesque-postmodern) depiction of characters is considered with their positive and negative sides, true language and emotions. Yevhen Polozhii’s novel “Ilovaisk” was analyzed, based on the memoirs of soldiers who survived the Ilovaisk pocket. It is determined that the writer turns to the traditional plot and depiction of heroes, using the features of existentialism and naturalism, often resorting to contrast in the reproduction of pictures of frontal and peaceful Donbas, and ideological beliefs of older and younger generations. It is proved that in the works of modern Ukrainian literature there is a deep rethinking of the war, which poses a potential threat not only to the individual country and its inhabitants, but to humanity in general. The authors affirm the idea of peace as the highest human value.

Home, Family, and War: Images of Home in the Ukrainian Novel About the War in Donbass

This article focuses on one of the most pressing issues in Ukraine today, the ongoing war in the Donbass. Using selected examples of Ukrainian prose, the authors analyse the impact of the war on the fate of individuals and their families. However, the theme goes far beyond the literary text and touches on important social and political issues facing Ukraine today. The authors understand prose as one of the narratives of culture, which not only conceptualizes reality in a certain way, but also has a real impact on social attitudes. Contemporary Ukrainian prose about the war in the Donbass analyses many stereotypes about the inhabitants of eastern Ukraine, shows them in their complicated family relationships, and also takes up one of the most universal literary motifs, namely the figure of the house in the face of a disruption of its everyday order. Characteristic of this prose is the individualized perspective, which aims not only to present events on a broad political level, but above all to draw attention to the impact of these events on the individual. Such an individualized perspective is an effective means of reaching the recipient and making him aware of the multidimensionality of the military conflict taking place before our eyes.

THE ESTIMATION OF THE WAR IN DONBAS BY SCIENTISTS AND FORMER POLITICIANS ON THE PAGES OF THE NEWSPAPER THE NEW YORK TIMES (FEBRUARY 12, 2015 – APRIL 30, 2018)

The views of scientists and former high-ranking politicians on the war in Donbass in the period between February 12, 2015 and April 30, 2018 are analyzed in the article. On that basis the best ways to end the war are shown. The scientific novelty of the study is that for the first time in historiography, the opinions of scientists and ex-politicians on the war in eastern Ukraine in the period between February 12, 2015 and April 30, 2018 were studied on the basis of the newspaper The New York Times. The following conclusions were made. Firstly, some analysts predicted that Russia would not try to seize Ukraine, but would fight in the Donbas to keep the country destabilized and prevent it from getting closer to the EU and NATO. Other experts predicted that Russia might not stop at Ukraine and use the Russians from the Baltic states to create frozen conflicts there. Secondly, the use of different terms to denote the war in Donbas and the enemies of Ukrainian troops was ambiguous. They were called mostly “insurgents”, less often “separatists”, and occasionally “militants” and “terrorists”. The war itself was most often referred to as “uprising” or “conflict”, less often as “invasion” and in isolated cases – “war”. Thirdly, after approving the first and second Minsk agreements, almost all experts immediately doubted their viability. In Minsk-2 agreement, Donbas was recognized as an integral part of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin periodically resorted to military escalation here, and instead of a political settlement he sought a frozen conflict so that Ukraine would abandon its strategic European and Euro-Atlantic course. Russia has done everything to make Ukraine look like an internally unstable, failed state in the eyes of the world, in order to take advantage of its weakness in the future. Fourthly, in the debate whether the West should provide weapons to Ukraine, two camps crystallized. Some advised the West to properly arm Ukraine, which would prevent Russian aggression against other states. Others believed that arming Ukraine would not deplete Russia. On the contrary, it could lead to the catastrophic defeat of Ukraine and the humiliation of the West. Fifthly, Western sanctions against Russia have prompted it to relinquish its claims to Donbas and warned against an aggressive course toward other countries. At the same time, the establishment of lasting peace in Ukraine, thus ending the war in Donbas, was associated exclusively with diplomatic efforts such as searching for and approval of a compromise option of autonomy or expanded local self-government.

Review of the film "Train: Kyiv-War" by Korniy Hrytsiuk

Korniy Hrytsiuk's documentary “Train: Kyiv - War” attempts to rethink the War in Donbas through a journey. The train Kyiv-Kostiantynivka goes from the heart of Ukraine to its far Eastern city Kostiantynivka that is located next to the frontline. Hrytsiuk, a native of the embattled territory, interviews his fellow passengers, recording their reflections about Ukraine, Russia, the war, and the future of Donbas.