Authors

Discussion

An important function of strategic narratives in international politics is to assert the identities of states and nations. Russia under Putin has consistently asserted its identity as a great power and the centre of a civilization, the so-called ‘Russian world’, which encompasses Russian-speaking peoples beyond Russia’s borders. Ukraine, meanwhile, has consistently resisted this narrative and asserted its own national identity distinct from – and in many ways opposed to – Russian identity. These clashing narratives of identity, and incompatible views of how Russia/Russians and Ukraine/Ukrainians relate to each other, are essential to explaining the escalating state of war that has existed between the two countries since 2014.

Strategic narratives of identity are not static; they are expected to evolve over time and particularly so in the context of war. This paper investigates evolution in the Russian and Ukrainian identities that were constructed within the two countries’ strategic narratives between 2013 and 2022. The aim is to trace how each side adjusted representations of its ‘self’ and the ‘other’ in response to the ongoing conflict, and thereby shed light on how the narratives reflected and fuelled mutual enmity. The paper is based on a thematic analysis of Ukrainian and Russian presidential statements over the nine years between the start of ‘Euromaidan’ in November 2013 and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.