Four Years of Russia’s War of Aggression Against Ukraine

Four Years of Russia’s War of Aggression Against Ukraine: Democratic Resistance and Resilience (?) in Wartime Ukraine (What does the data actually say?)

Russia’s war against Ukraine is entering its 5th year of all out war 2026, to commemorate these last four years of Russia’s aggression we host a special Lecture. This s your chance to hear from an internationally leading expert - who regularly advises and works with governments, policymakers, and international actors - on what is happening in Ukraine and what the data actually says about citizens’ war experiences, engagement, and views on what is happening today!

Abstract: Ordinary Ukrainians have proven to be the remarkable secret weapon against Russia’s autocratic war of aggression. Analysts thought Ukraine would fold in 3 days or a maximum of two weeks. Instead, even before Ukraine received military aid it stood strong, survived an onslaught by the largest army in Europe and pushed back Russia from the centre of its country within weeks. Since this time Ukrainians have liberated large cities in the east and south and show a – for some surprising - ability to resist all while maintain their devotion to democracy. So ...

1. What underpins ordinary citizens’ civilian engagement in the war effort?

1. Is there social cohesion in Ukraine?

1. How do they view their politicians and what are the prospects for post-war elections?

1. Taken together are Ukrainians displaying democratic resilience even in the face of extensive war trauma? And finally, what do we know about civilian resistance under Russian autocratic occupation?

Professor Onuch, a world leading expert on Ukrainian comparative politics, will answer these questions and present highlights from extensive ground breaking empirical research based on 25 original wartime surveys (both cross-sectional and panel data) collected as part of three projects she lead/co-lead UCEPS[ukraineelectionsurvey.com], MOBILISEproject.com, [mobiliseproject.com] and IBIFukraine.com[ibifukraine.com] and observational data as part of the DataForUkraine [dataforukraine.com] project. She will be drawing on two academic papers but will make the presentation, data, and findings accessible to students from across all of the humanities and beyond are very welcome.

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Host or Publisher Louise Thompson