KEY TRENDS IN THE FORMATION OF UKRAINIAN VOLUNTEERISM UNDER CONDITIONS OF UNDECLARED WAR: NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN THE LIGHT OF NETWORK-DIGITAL REBOOT
Authors: Pankova Oksana , Kasperovich Oleksandr , Ishchenko Oleksandr , Krasulina Yanina 
Published: December 2023

Now Ukraine is undergoing an existential test with the undeclared war unleashed by Russia. Every single day, in this war, Ukraine is suffering unprecedented human losses, large-scale financial and economic losses, and significant destruction of the industrial and infrastructure potential that was created over many years. Russia's full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine is not only an existential threat to the existence of Ukraine as an independent state, it is a real challenge to the world system of collective security, which generates global threats, primarily in the security and humanitarian fields. One of the most powerful manifestations of the mobilization of internal social resources of Ukrainian civil society is self-organizational processes aimed at solving the most difficult problems that have arisen as a result of the armed aggression and at the needs of post-war reconstruction. A striking manifestation of such self-organization was the 'outbreak' of volunteer activity of Ukrainians, which reveals the power of civil society as an actor of social transformations in Ukraine. Previous experience has shown that volunteering is a quick, flexible and effective internal mechanism of social self-organization of Ukrainian citizens, which mobilizes and directs resources to preserve the life and health of citizens, to solve problems of socio-economic, security etc in critica l situations. The volunteer movement in Ukraine has its own history of initiation and development, but in general it fits into the global context. The first outbreak of volunteer activity, which covered the whole country, took place at the end of 2013, and unfolded with particular force in 2014-2016 as a reaction to the armed conflict in Donbas. This is the first wave of the flash-like growth of the volunteer movement. After that, a certain lull lasted for several years, including in the manifestations of volunteer activity of citizens. At that time, the focus of volunteer aid was determined by the urgent need to save the lives of people in the occupied territories, to support the Ukrainian military (Defense Forces of Ukraine, volunteer battalions), and to help internally displaced persons from the zone of armed conflict. The mobilization of civil society resources in Ukraine was implemented through volunteering as a result of the impact of the external threat of loss of the territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state. Such a factor is not typical for the activation of the volunteer movement in other countries of the world. This is our Ukrainian specificity. Starting from February 24, 2022, the full-scale invasion caused the second wave of the 'outbreak' of the volunteer movement in Ukraine, which unfolded instantly, en masse, with new strength and power. The experience of public self-organization gained during 2014-2016 has become extremely useful. Actually, Ukraine faced the same challenges, but on an incomparably larger scale and severity and with a much greater destructive power of the enemy. Large-scale armed aggression has become a challenge not only for Ukraine, but also for the entire world community. In this context, an important aspect that requires the study of the volunteer movement in Ukraine is the emergence and development of new forms of interaction and communication of its participants, based on the use of the capabilities of modern information, communication and network technologies. Researching these issues, finding ways to further develop and involve volunteering resources (using modern technological base) is an important task for scientists, practitioners, politicians, representatives of the volunteer movement and state authorities. In the strategic dimension, we are talking about unlocking the internal reserves of Ukrainian society through volunteering under conditions of limited resources and armed aggression, considering the needs of further post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. The second wave of activation of volunteerism, associated with the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, again brought the study of this phenomenon into focus, given the scale and real role played by volunteerism in resisting armed aggression and overcoming its consequences. Thus, the opinions and moods of Ukrainians, their volunteering and charitable involvement, social well-being under conditions of war are systematically measured by the sociological group 'Rating' [1]. Specialists of the National Institute of Strategic Studies are investigating the economic principles of promoting community cohesion in the conditions of martial law [2]. The Ukrainian scientific community, together with representatives of state authorities, actively conducts expert discussions on the development of the Strategy for the post-war recovery of Ukraine [3]. The research problem lies in the need to form a holistic vision of key development trends, the role and significance of Ukrainian volunteering as a powerful internal resource of civil society – an active subject that resists armed Russian aggression and overcomes its devastating consequences. The basis for the formation of a holistic vision of promising areas for the development of volunteering in Ukraine is a comparison of two waves of the 'outbreak' of volunteering (active phases: 2014-2016 and starting from 2022). The purpose of the study is to identify the key trends in the development of Ukrainian volunteering and the most significant factors influencing it, in particular, the impact of digitalization, network and digital technologies on volunteering in Ukraine.