DANYLIW RESEARCH SEMINAR ON CONTEMPORARY UKRAINE

Since 2014, Russia has framed Ukraine’s language, education, minority, religious, and memory policies as threats requiring external protection, using these claims to delegitimise Ukrainian sovereignty. This paper examines how Ukrainian legislation contested narratives associated with Russkiy Mir and how this policy evolved before and after February 2022. The analysis identifies a Russian shift from minority-protection claims towards civilisational denial of Ukrainian statehood. European institutions increasingly rejected Russian framing while continuing to assess Ukrainian measures against legality, proportionality, and minority-rights standards.

 

Margaryta Khvostova is a PhD student at the University of Surrey, UK.