The Russian War Against Ukraine Through the Eyes of Western and Ukrainian Epistemic Communities: Value and Ideological Aspects (monograph)

This monograph examines how Western and Ukrainian epistemic communities have interpreted the Russian-Ukrainian war in publications issued since 2014 and following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The study covers the principal scholarly and expert approaches to explaining the causes and nature of the conflict, as well as its ideological and informational dimensions. Particular attention is paid to the epistemological limitations and political factors affecting the analysis of the conflict. The monograph analyses interpretations of the war within Western academic discourse, focusing in particular on the realist and liberal schools of international relations. It critically examines political biases manifested in "orientalism towards Russia," the underestimation of Ukrainian agency, and the persistence of inertial assumptions about the "stability" of the international order. The authors also summarise the contributions of Ukrainian researchers, whose work focuses on Russian information aggression, transformations of identity, value change, and societal resilience, treating information warfare as one of the central instruments of influence on Ukrainian society.

This monograph was prepared on the basis of the results of the research project The Russian-Ukrainian War as a Conflict of Identities, Values, and Ideologies (state registration number 0123U1000504).