Failing to Fight for the “Russian World”: Pre-War Social Origins of the Pro-Russian Secessionist Organizations in Ukraine
Journal: Nationalities Papers
Year: 2022

Abstract The 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