Anna Osypchuk

The project focuses on documenting and understanding the experience of Ukrainians from all walks of life from the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine until the present.
The aim is to analyze and understand the attitudes of Ukrainians towards the Russian military, Russian elites and Russian citizens, and thereby to pinpoint the level of dehumanization toward the enemy, informations that will be key to any future peacebuilding initiatives and reintegration programs. The attitude toward the enemy affects how further relations with the enemy are built after the war. As for Ukraine in particular, it is also extremely relevant for the formation and implementation of cultural policy, identity and memory politics and for the strengthening of Ukraine’s statehood and sovereignty. Finding out why Ukrainians tend to employ more subtle forms of dehumanization rather than blatant ones (as previous research has demonstrated) is important for distinguishing the key characteristics of Ukrainian society (including in comparison to Russian society). Moreover, the Ukrainian attitudes toward Russian society/people/elites and Ukrainians' opinions regarding these groups' personal/collective responsibility or guilt are no less important, especially as all these will help to build the vision and crystallize core values based on which post-war reconstruction and reconciliation should take place.