How do perceptions differ among the inhabitants of the two parts of the Donbas-the one controlled by Ukraine and the other occupied by the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics? What kind of strategic narratives are projected by the Russian and Ukrainian authorities? How does media coverage affect the identities and attitudes of local populations? This presentation is based on reliable surveys, the author's personal interviews in the Donetsk region (conducted in summer 2018), and analysis of media content in the Donbas.
Oleksii Polegkyi is a Bayduza Post-doctoral Fellow at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies and a member of the Political Communication Research Unit at the University of Antwerp (Belgium). He was previously a research fellow at the Graduate Institute of Russian Studies, National Chengchi University (Taiwan), and a visiting fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies Kőszeg (iASK, Hungary). Dr. Polegkyi earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Wrocław (Poland) and the University of Antwerp.