Events in Eastern Ukraine Through the Prism of a British Journalist's Study

The Ukrainian version of this article is the result of a thesis defended at Cambridge University (UK) for a master’s degree in international relations by a British journalist of Ukrainian descent Yuri Bender. The thesis was supervised by Dr. Rory Finnin, Associate Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge. The author examines the events in eastern Ukraine that led to the secession of the socalled Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic and their further attempts to function as separate autonomous regions (statelets). This study is based not so much on an analysis of a large scope of scientific literature published in the West in recent years, but primarily on the results of the author’s several trips to eastern Ukraine before and after the Russian-Ukrainian war. The inability to visit self-proclaimed statelets, the so-called DPR and LPR, made it impossible to hold interviews in controlled by non-governmental organizations areas, with the exception of telephone conversations. However, the author conducted more than 40 semi-structured interviews with elites as well as members of the general public, with particular emphasis on ‘giving voice’ to ordinary Ukrainians disenfranchised by a political and media system dominated by oligarchical interests. These voices, several of them featured in this article, will be crucial in determining the future of Ukraine, just as they have shaped recent and long-term history. The research is based on a study of the impact of the economy and the identity of the population, supported by Moscow’s foreign policy in the “near abroad” countries. The key economic factors of the temporary separation of the “statelets” took place against the background of changes in identity and elitist behavior. The study of these issues is vital in determining whether “republics” have a long-term autonomous future. The reality is that nowadays migrants are increasingly leaving Donbas instead of entering. The most enterprising and educated citizens, who demonstrate the strongest manifestations of identity – the very type needed to create an effective state – are more likely to leave. The events in Donbas are viewed through theoretical prisms, including the “Wild Field” by historian Hiroaki Kuromiya, challenged by oligarchs, criminal groups, and political clans; and the Euro-Asian “heartland” of the geographer Halford Mackinder, who historically fought and defended the eastern and western states. Based on his own interviews conducted during repeated trips to Ukraine, the author seeks to contribute to the discussion on the future trajectory of Ukraine’s troubled eastern border areas and shed light on their recent past