Redrawing symbolic boundaries after Maidan: identity strategies among Russian-speaking Ukrainians

In the context of conflict between Ukraine and Russia and increasing polarisation, symbolic boundaries between the two spaces are shifting. Here I investigated the themes and strategies of border-construction between the concepts of ‘Ukrainianness’ and ‘Russianness’ through everyday acts of communication of Russian-speaking Ukrainians. The article utilises materials of 14 in-depth interviews with Russian speakers from various Ukrainian regions (2018). The results show that the polarisation and hardening of borders between Ukraine and Russia prompted two responses: acceptance vs. negotiation/denial. The underlying tension behind opposing border-narratives was caused by the competition between ethnic and civic elements for the dominance in the national identity discourse.