Conflict in Ukraine: multiplicity of narratives about the war and displacement

ABSTRACT

The current situation in Ukraine, which to some extent influences the social and political climate in Europe, may be perceived entirely differently from the position of an insider compared with that of an outsider, as well as from the perspective of the researcher and an individual person. This article is going to present and analyse the three prevailing narratives about the conflict, which shape the continuum for the multiplicity of individual stories, basing on the concept of strategic narratives (Berenskoetter, 2014). How is a Ukrainian self-victimizing narrative formulated out of the situation and what kind of national biography does it presuppose? What arguments are used to develop a Russian strategic narrative and what mechanisms distribute this narrative in media? How is the conflict moulded in a geopolitical narration? Finally, how do Ukrainians with different backgrounds perceive these narratives and what attitudes towards the situation they may have? This article aims to summarize the main discourses presented in Ukrainian society, an understanding of which is needed for personal narrative construction, reconciliation and security building. The final part of the article will present the personal stories of internally displaced people, obtained through the series of in-depth interviews, and highlight the possible options for peacebuilding and reconciliation in Ukrainian society.

KEYWORDS:

• Ukraine
• narratives
• Donbas
• conflict
• displacement

ORCID

Valeria Lazarenko http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9795-8458

Notes

1 Definition elaborated by Uppsala Conflict Data Project, available at: http://pcr.uu.se/research/ucdp/definitions/.

2 International Criminal Court report: https://www.icc-cpi.int/itemsDocuments/2017-PE-rep/2017-otp-rep-PE_ENG.pdf.

3 A detailed explanation of the effects of news was made by Illia Ponomarenko, for Kyiv Post on 20 February 2018: https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/goodbye-ato-hello-taking-measures-ensure-national-security-defense-repulsing-deterring-armed-aggression-russian-federation-donetsk-luhansk-oblasts.html.

4 Journalist Mustafa Nayem writes a column called ‘Sevastopol is not Ukraine’ in 2009, where he blames Ukrainian government for their passiveness in integrating Sevastopol to Ukraine and mentions negative consequences of Russian Black Sea Float presence. The title was separated from the article and spread in a negative context: https://blogs.pravda.com.ua/authors/nayem/4adc22c19f1b6/.

5 An interview with a writer Yuri Andrukhovych, where he mentions that Crimea and Donbass are another nation and that Ukraine is not a united country, published in 2010: https://www.unian.ua/politics/382762-andruhovich-yakscho-peremojut-pomaranchevi-to-krimu-y-donbasu-treba-dati-mojlivist-vidokremitisya.html.

6 Interfax-Ukraine (2015).

7 McBride (2015).

8 Russia’s Justification for the Annexation of Crimea (7 April 2017): https://globalsecurityreview.com/russias-legal-plausible-justification-for-the-annexation-of-crimea/.

9 Kanygin (2014).

10 Gennadiy Kernes, Kharkiv mayor, gives a vast interview in 2015, where mentions that there is no Russian aggression in Ukraine: https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/articles/2015/02/17/7058843/.

11 Mikhail Dobkin, Parliament member, in August 2017 stated that there is no Russian army on Donbas, but supposed the indirect Russian involvement. However, the media spread only the first part of his claim. Full interview for Ukrainian 112 TV Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXIYmNVNP48.

12 Full text of the interview of Georgii Tuka, deputy minister of occupied territories, to Ukrainian Apostrophe journal: https://apostrophe.ua/article/politics/government/2017-07-10/putin-uje-ne-parnishka-ego-budut-sudit-posmertno—georgiy-tuka/13319.

13 One of the interpretations of Georgii Tuka’s words out of context: https://novorosinform.org/372029.

14 One of a kind of articles expressing the idea of Ukraine as a pseudostate: http://www.vestifinance.ru/articles/53277.

15 Puhov (2015).

16 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/647776/dar_mcdc_hybrid_warfare.pdf.

17 Trump to supply Ukrainian military with weapons / Financial Times, https://www.ft.com/content/b872e268-e7ea-11e7-bd17-521324c81e23.

18 The article in one of the biggest Ukrainian online-media, Ukrayinska Pravda, titled as Ukraine will finally get the American anti-tank missile FGM-148 Javelin, with semantic emphasis on the long hoping of this process and positive express about the agreement: https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2018/03/2/7173375/.

19 Russian reaction to supplement the FGM-148 Javelin for Ukraine: http://www.politonline.ru/interpretation/22892474.html.

20 Gerasimov’s doctrine: Gerasimov V. The Value of Science Is in the Foresight (англ.) // Military Review: журнал. – 2016. – January–February. – С. 23–29.

21 An article explaining how does Ukrainian economy rely on IMF loans: https://www.unian.info/politics/2353995-ukrainian-governments-dilemma-how-to-retain-imf-aid-without-fighting-corruption.html.

22 Notes about peacekeeping often appear in media, and this one is one of the latest addition to the discourse: https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/eastern-europe/ukraine/donbas-peacekeeping-opportunities-and-risks.

23 A report on Ukraine-Russia economic relation, made by Bearategruppe Ukraine in June 2015: https://www.beratergruppe-ukraine.de/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/PB_07_2015_ukr.pdfEconomic.

24 Liuhto (2018).

25 A broad report made by Ukrainian analytical portal ‘Slovo I Dilo’, based on the data provided by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine: https://www.slovoidilo.ua/2017/10/12/infografika/ekonomika/ekonomichni-zvyazky-ukrayiny-yevrazijskymy-krayinamy-kym-my-spivpracyuyemo-najbilshe.

26 Interview with philosopher Volodymyr Prykhodko, who was born in Donbas: https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/28263804.html.

27 Portnov (2015).

28 Personal stories of displaced people were obtained through personal communication and interviews conducted during the ongoing Ph.D. research project and are the preliminary conclusions. On the moment of writing this article, 16 narrative interviews were conducted. The respondents were the people who moved from occupied territories to Kiev in 2014; the interviews took place in November-December 2017. All the names are changed.