Untruthful claims, real war, dire consequences: understanding the narrative of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes to the scholarship on a war which was started in 2014 with the Russian annexation of the Crimea and combat in Eastern Ukraine. Most of the studies fell short of labelling it correctly, revealing causes and suggesting possible solutions because they did not consider the conflict in the broader perspective of Russian-Ukrainian relations. One of the reasons of this failure is a narrative about Ukrainian society which is created and spread by Russian politicians, diplomats, academics, and the media. This narrative has evolved to legitimize the Russian large-scale invasion by labelling it as “a special military operation.” Based on the data available, the paper provides a deconstruction of the current narrative, identifying its four main claims, and demonstrates that the declared premises are false. The realization of profound intentions aimed at imposing its own rule, which are embedded in the Russian narrative, means reversing a historical process of long-term national development and is only possible through the genocide of population of Ukraine within a sorely repressive occupation regime. Hence, the Russian colonial war against Ukraine is not justifiable, has disastrous and enduring consequences, and cannot be tolerated.

KEYWORDS:

• Russian invasion
• narrative
• Ukraine
• war
• qualitative analysis

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Notice of duplicate publication: Untruthful claims, real war, dire consequences: understanding the narrative of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Disclosure statement

We recognize as a journal that there are strongly differing positions on the left concerning the war and we would like to reflect those differences through debate in the journal. We are particularly interested in contributions from Ukraine itself as well as from those opposing the war in Russia. As a journal, we do not endorse any particular analysis regarding the causes of the war but see our role as promoting a discussion which might play a positive role in responding to this crisis.

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Yuriy Savelyev

Yuriy Savelyev, DSc (Dr habil. in Sociology) is originally from the eastern part of Ukraine which has been occupied by Russian Federation since 2014. Currently, he is Professor of Sociology at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The scope of his comparative research includes social change and modernization, social agents’ values, capabilities, participation, and inclusion in European societies. He received the Merit Award of the Worldwide Competition for junior scholars from the International Sociological Association (ISA) in 2006 and was Carnegie Research Fellow at Boston College in 2011. He has over 70 publications in international and Ukrainian academic journals including International Sociology, Ideology and Politics, Sociológia, Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya, Thesis Eleven, Europe-Asia Studies and Ukrainian Society.