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To evaluate and understand the dynamics of citizen participation in social networks concerning the war in Ukraine and delve into the phenomenon of cyberactivism, this study focuses on the conversation generated in Spanish around the conflict on Twitter. The research analyses 1,138,747 original tweets to investigate the general characteristics of the conversation, the user interaction patterns, and the creation and structure of communities and to determine the connecting factors. The study employs machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques via the Graphext data analytics tool. The conversation volume is very high, but the network of interactions is characterized by being unstructured and dominated by white noise, with disjointed interactions setting the tone of the conversation. Verified accounts and emotionality stand out as factors of connection and interconnection in the network. This case study highlights a form of social and political participation oriented towards visibility and information about the cause at a level of deliberation and debate that shows empathy and sympathy in a context close to slacktivism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus, has correctly been seen as a staunch supporter of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, explicit statements of support for the war are rare in his public sermons and speeches, and it is worth exploring the mechanisms of his support in some detail. The article presents an analysis of all the patriarch's sermons and speeches between February 2022 and February 2023 and shows how the patriarch uses references to history to nurture a worldview that makes the war both legitimate and necessary. Using Duncan Bell's notion of a mythscape, the author argues that Kirill infuses secular history with divine meaning in order to give indirect divine legitimation for the war in Ukraine. He further relates this to Stoeckl's contention that the Russian Orthodox Church's promotion of so-called traditional values functions as civil religion for today's Russia and suggests that Kirill's use of history nurtures this civil religion further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2023, the grain deal was denounced by Russia. Its termination was followed by massive bombing of Ukraine's grain infrastructure. However, its signature in July 2022 had been welcomed by international organisations as good news for global food security. This article discusses the relevance of the concept of food security for understanding the difficulties of the grain deal. Ultimately, it suggests a theoretical revision of the concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author analyzes Estonia as a case study to explore two interrelated research questions – how exceptions are produced and reversed through the mechanisms of sovereignty and governmentality projected onto geo- and biopolitical domains, and how the new practices of exceptionalization and de-exceptionalization contribute to the emergence of a new spatial order at Europe's eastern margins? Three types of policies unfolded in Estonia as reactions to the Russian war against Ukraine are identified. First, the Estonian government introduced extraordinary measures based on the logic of national interests, which left much space for discretionary power to define risks, threats, and dangers. Secondly, some policy domains were intentionally de-exceptionalized for the sake of their better integration into Estonian normative space and as a reaction to the effects of the war. Third, in some cases there were exceptions from exceptions, which meant certain steps back toward normalization of the previously taken exceptional measures. The theoretical frame of the article consists of two nodal concepts – sovereignty and governmentality to be projected onto geo- and biopolitics treated as spheres in which sovereign and governmental powers operate and expose their political qualities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of the study is to characterize the market in terms of asymmetry between the dynamic increase in imports and the less pronounced increase in exports from Poland, with particular emphasis on various categories of agricultural products. The research methodology involves the analysis of trade data from Eurostat and a comprehensive review of scientific and specialized literature. The comparative analysis is centered around categories such as cereals, vegetable oils, meat, and dairy products. Key findings indicate a significant increase in the import of agricultural products from Ukraine, especially corn, coupled with a modest rise in exports from Poland. Additionally, a decline in exports for certain categories suggests that part of production has been retained on the domestic market. The main conclusions emphasize the need for effective strategies to manage surplus agricultural products, including the promotion of alternative markets and the development of diversification initiatives for the agricultural sector. Given the challenges stemming from the war in Ukraine, an appropriate approach to shaping agricultural policy becomes crucial for the sustainable development of the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapidly changing external conditions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which are pure crisis phenomena, not only determine the geopolitical and geoeconomic situation in the global markets but also cause structural changes in individual countries. Under these conditions, the level of food self-sufficiency becomes particularly important, as it is one of the factors determining the food security of any country. The aim of this research is to assess Ukraine's food self-sufficiency compared to the European Union and Poland. The self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) index was used to assess food self-sufficiency. This is the ratio of the volume of production of the most important products of plant and animal origin to the volume of domestic consumption. Domestic consumption was defined as the volume of domestic production plus the volume of imports minus the volume of exports, and it also included changes in domestic stock levels. The surveyed time frame is 2019–2021. The analyzed data were taken from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, FAOSTAT, USDA, and Statistics Poland. A comparative analysis of self-sufficiency for the main agri-food sectors of Ukraine, the EU, and Poland showed significant differences. Taking into account the production potential and food self-sufficiency indicators of Ukraine, Ukraine's possible accession to the EU can be expected to have a major impact on the EU's supply and demand situation, as it may pose a threat to many EU agri-food sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates how international educational collaboration (IEC) as a social activity adapts to global crises: COVID-19 and the Russian's invasion in Ukraine. We focus on Finnish higher education institutions (HEIs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that actively provide IEC activities, such as student exchange, education export and educational capacity building abroad. Drawing from the sociology of conventions (SC) and the concept of social practices, we formulate a multidimensional framework that connects regimes of justification, and social practices that emerge in crises. Considering crises as a critical test, we analyse how IEC cope with unexpected situations that require establishing new justifications of public accountability and morality, and practices that fit the crises situation. Our empirical data collected through a two-stage open-ended questionnaire in 2021 and 2022 enables us to consider the recent trends and potential future(s) of IEC. Empirically, we conclude that coping with global crises requires IEC actors to make changes in IEC practices. Analytically, we theorise that regimes of justification and social practices that emerge during crises (crisis practices) are interconnected. Thus, this study contributes to practice-oriented frame by considering accountability of practices in the unexpected circumstances, enhancing the understanding of how different organisations adapt to turbulent times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is ample evidence that foreigners suffer from discrimination when trying to integrate. Extreme situations, however, can alter the population's attitude towards foreigners. One example of such an extreme situation is the position of Ukrainians in Poland since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It drastically changed the composition and share of the foreign-born population in Poland. In this paper, we examined the attitude towards people with Ukrainian-sounding and other foreign-sounding names in Poland, and whether it has changed. We used an experimental approach, within which we contacted amateur football coaches asking to join a trial training session using typical native- and Belarussian-, German-, and Ukrainian-sounding names. Half of the clubs received an additional signal showing support for Ukraine. Furthermore, a limited subset of participants completed post-experiment surveys. The survey gave us an opportunity to understand why the respondents discriminate. The results show that people with foreign-sounding names receive fewer responses. Surprisingly, people with Ukrainian names are the exception. They received more responses than natives. Signaling support for Ukraine had a positive but not statistically significant effect on the response rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND. The war has a negative impact on patient care and the efficiency of the health care system; access to medical care is limited, coverage of preventive examinations and detection of tuberculosis (TB) are deteriorating. There is a threat of exacerbation of the epidemic situation with TB in Ukraine. OBJECTIVE. To assess the epidemic situation with TB during the war in Ukraine. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Comparison of data from the Ministry of health on TB (epidemiological indicators and indicators on detection, diagnosis and prevention) in the pre-war (2018-2021) and war (2022-2023) periods. RESULTS. The following were revealed: 1) a positive trend towards a decrease in epidemiological indicators of TB in 2018-2020, which slowed down in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a negative trend towards an increase in almost all indicators of TB incidence, separate indicators of mortality from TB and its prevalence in 2022-2023; 2) significant increase in the incidence of TB among contacts and children; 3) increase by ⅓-. of mortality from TB in certain regions; 4) correlation between regional rates of morbidity, mortality and prevalence of TB. In 2018-2023, the following decreased: fluorography examination, tuberculin diagnostics, detection of TB during preventive examinations (by 2-4 times), preventive vaccinations for children of the first year of life, detection of newly diagnosed and recurrent TB by smear, preventive treatment in contacts. CONCLUSIONS. Incidence is a marker of response to negative external factors and the main criterion for assessing the epidemic state of TB during the war. Fluorography examination, tuberculin diagnostics, detection of TB during professional examinations, preventive vaccinations for children of the first year of life, detection of newly diagnosed and recurrent TB by smear, preventive treatment of contacts are the main criteria for evaluating the activity of the anti-TB service during the wartime, since they are the first to significantly respond to the challenges of war.

There has been a significant response to the war in Ukraine on the part of the European Union (EU). Particularly noteworthy is its support for Kyiv via measures in the framework of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and especially in the defence field. It has provided substantial assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces through the European Peace Facility (EPF); the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP) and the EDIRPA common procurement instrument; and its military assistance mission (EUMAM Ukraine). These initiatives show how, in the wake of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the CSDP has made unprecedented, yet still only partial steps to allow the EU to progress towards moving beyond its traditional status as a small power.

This paper analyses the repercussions that the war in Ukraine since 2022 has had on the European Union (EU) policy of economic globalisation. The Union’s comprehensive response to the conflict is examined from different angles, taking in energy insecurity, economic shocks, geopolitical shifts, humanitarian challenges and technological vulnerabilities. In this context, the EU’s adaptive resilience is evident on several fronts, such as the integration of its economic policies with security (particularly in critical sectors), its role in the European security architecture and its commitment to incorporating Ukraine into the West. The study expands to include the flexible management of mass migration, tech vulnerabilities, energy resilience, economic stability, geopolitical alliances, humanitarian response action and technological reinforcement.

Russia’s audacious, unprecedented, illegal invasion of Ukraine, which began in a hybrid form in February 2014 before escalating into a full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, has brought with it a significant amount of destruction, multibillion-dollar losses, and damage beyond measure – both to the whole state and to each individual Ukrainian resident. As a result of Russian aggression, thousands of civilians have been killed, dozens of cities have been damaged by shelling and airstrikes, and countless enterprises, medical institutions, educational institutions, cultural heritage monuments, kilometres of road, and residential buildings have been destroyed. The war continues, meaning that the damage caused to Ukraine by Russia is steadily increasing with each new day. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, one of the most important tasks has been to find ways and means for post-war reconstruction in Ukraine, as well as for the payment of compensation to the victims of the war. These compensation mechanisms should be implemented alongside those that come at the expense of the funds of the Russian Federation, which, accordingly, necessitates the lawful capture of these funds from an array of possible sources (sovereign assets of the Russian Federation, the assets of Russian oligarchs, etc.). After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, civilized countries froze the assets of the external foreign exchange reserve of the central bank of the Russian Federation, along with the private assets of Russian oligarchs. After freezing assets, the next step on the path towards transferring to Ukraine the assets and funds of the Russian Federation (both sovereign assets and those of private persons), which are located in many countries around the world, should be their confiscation, since freezing alone is not an effective measure. An important task is to help states take this step and develop appropriate confiscation mechanisms in their national legislation. This article is devoted to the study of this issue, as well as to the comparative analysis of that which has already been achieved in this field.

The paper examines the impact of the war in Ukraine on the financial condition and stability of banks in Central and Eastern European nations directly bordering on the countries involved in the military conflict, i.e., Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus. The research sample, consisting of 93 banks and 45 analysed variables, was selected based on the systematic literature review presented. The empirical study uses the system generalised method of moments (SGMM). To capture the studied impact, both binary and interactive variables were used. The results are discussed in relation to banking variables and those related to the macroeconomic situation. The study allowed us to conclude that there has been no significant deterioration in the capital position of banks. However, it showed a significant negative impact of several variables on the condition and stability of the studied banks, as captured by other indicators. Additionally, the significance of 22 interactive variables indicates that the war in Ukraine has had a real impact on banks in the examined countries. Moreover, the results suggest that banks in countries with higher debt or budget deficits may be more affected by the war.

The war in Ukraine has multiple and significant consequences for the European security architecture, and at the EU level it has caused the worst post-Cold War security crisis. This article examines how the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has led the EU to take unprecedented decisions on its security, defense and enlargement. The purpose of this article is to identify the measures and actions taken by the EU to respond to the challenges of the war over the last two years and to assess its ability to withstand and respond to crises.

Narges Bajoghli, Vali Nasr, Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Ali Vaez, How sanctions work: Iran and the impact of economic warfare (Cum funcționează sancțiunile: Iran și impactul războiului economic), Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press, 2024, 197 pp. (Ioana Constantin-Bercean) • Carmen Stratone, Propagandă și diplomație culturală în România comunistă. Institutul Român pentru Relațiile Culturale cu Străinătatea. O istorie inedită, București, Institutul Național Pentru Studiul Totalitarismului, Academia Română, 2023, 280 pp. (Carmen Burcea) • Valentin Naumescu, Raluca Moldovan (coordonatori), Războiul. Consecințele invaziei rusești în Ucraina la nivel global, european și românesc, Cluj-Napoca, Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2023, 390 pp. (Sanda Cincă)

The conflict in Ukraine has already changed the picture of the regional security and some changes may be permanent. The shifting power structures created by the war and the illicit market opportunities will continue to increase criminal activity. This article assesses the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and its implications for organized crime and security-related issues for neighbouring countries, with a focus on Romania. These include organized crime and illicit trafficking (including trafficking in persons, drugs, arms, illicit tobacco, and other goods), cybercrimes and fraud. The paper uses a multidisciplinary approach, which includes both intelligence analysis and operational actions, with a benefit role in the prevention, detection and tackling of serious and organized crime affecting the European Union and its citizens. This study used a mixed-methods approach. The literature review along with a content analysis and statistical analysis of organized crime was conducted using a combination of online databases, as well as academic journals and conference papers. The research findings show that the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and its implications for organized crime and security-related issues will have long-term consequences for European Union countries.

This piece explores the effects of the war in Ukraine on Colombia's coal industry and the contrasting affective responses of different actors. The stark contrast between environmental and Indigenous activists' anger and the industry representatives' optimism about the revival of coal exports evidences the tension between the climate policies of the current Colombian government and the longstanding pattern of export‐led economies in Latin America, a path difficult to break. Nonetheless, the situation enables a space to discuss how a ‘just transition’ would look for regions dependent on coal and, importantly, when that transition will be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to provide insights into the current network configurations of the food-trade system and to study the short-term effects of one of the ongoing and lasting global crises, the Ukraine War, on the link intensity. Towards this end, this analysis (1) reveals the pattern of countries' network positions in two most traded subcategories of the cereal network: wheat and meslin, and maize or corn, and (2) discusses the characteristics of the global cereal networks over the 2021–2022 period. The results highlight several features of the trade networks: (1) the distribution of cereal trade is highly concentrated, with considerable dependency on a small number of exporters and a low import diversification, making the system rigid and prone to shocks; (2) a central role of several key developed countries that leave many developing countries outside the centre of the networks; (3) a high network heterogeneity which confirms the propensity to have hub nodes. Particular indicators show that the highest level of interconnectivity is specific to the cereals' export network, the densest networks are the maize or corn ones, and the greatest heterogeneity appears for the cereals export network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media self-censorship related to war and military conflict is usually analysed by evaluating the journalistic practices of the countries involved in the war. The objective of this study is to explore how the self-censorship of Latvian public service media (Latvian Radio and Latvian Television) employees developed in response to changes in the internal socio-political discourse after Russia's full-scale invasion in Ukraine, because of which the Latvian PSM found themselves in the crossfire of long-term criticism and attacks by politicians and audience representatives. Employing semi-structured interviews and qualitative content analysis, this study analyses the perception of self-censorship at all levels (journalists, producers, programme hosts, editors) (15 informants), factors that influence the development of self-censorship, informants' coping strategies, and the impact of self-censorship on PSM content (78 items of content on various channels and platforms). The conceptual framework of this study is based on Bourdieu's field theory and Spiral of Silence Theory, exploring how self-censorship affects journalists' professional habitus, social capital, and agency. The results of this study show that, although Latvia is not involved in the nearby war, politician- and audience member-driven self-censorship affects PSM platforms' daily agenda, source selection, and editorial line, reducing the diversity and pluralism of PSM content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the political role of cultural mega-events in the context of ongoing war? The article examines the interaction between cultural mega-events and militarization processes in the shadow of war. It addresses two main gaps: the lack of attention to the politics of such events during war, and the specific understanding of militarization usually adopted by popular culture scholars. It examines the development of material and symbolic forms of militarization, and addresses the impact of the commercial logic behind mega-events on the intensification and normalization of militarized practices. Empirically, the article focuses on the different militarization processes that developed in and through the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It examines how these play out in Ukraine (through the militarization of the band Kalush Orchestra and the militarization of the Ukrainian song 'Stefania'), within the Eurovision contest itself and across Europe (through its participation in the competition). In doing so it also contributes to the broader debate about the changing security identity of Europe, and the development of a new militarized liberal European identity. Using data from social media, the article also highlights the role of such platforms in militarization processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine, it is striking that there have been many references to resilience, including by Western and Ukrainian leaders. This article is precisely about their use of resilience discourse, and it makes two important contributions to existing scholarship on resilience in conflict settings. First, drawing on Ish-Shalom's idea of 'concepts at work' and analysing a selection of speeches and policy statements (by Western leaders and President Volodymyr Zelensky) that specifically refer to resilience, it demonstrates that resilience is a significant 'concept at work' in the war, making certain forms of international and domestic politics possible. Second, while research on resilience frequently discusses different ways that the concept has been defined and approached in fields such as engineering, ecology, and psychology, this article highlights that diverse framings of resilience have become entangled as the concept is 'at work' in the war in Ukraine. More specifically, its analysis makes prominent the fusion of different resiliences at different levels – from the individual to the systemic – discursively working together for particular political ends. In this way, it offers a novel way of thinking multi-systemically about resilience and, by extension, about resilience and complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The aim of the study is to analyse the EU's existing and potential capabilities in criminal law policy to prevent transnational environmental crimes. The study uses statistical analysis, formal legal, comparative legal and descriptive methods. As a result of the work carried out, it was found that today, Ukraine requires special attention in terms of the scale of transnational environmental crimes. About 2,500 environmental crimes committed by Russian companies were recorded in the country. In this regard, the author's in-depth analysis of the current legislative documents related to transnational environmental crimes provides valuable insights. It is determined that changes in the criminal law policy of the European Union may improve the situation with transnational environmental crime. At the same time, the author considers the prospects for further improvement of criminal law policy, including introducing the concept of "ecocide" into the Rome Statute. The author notes the European Union countries' best practices in preventing environmental crimes using criminal law instruments and the SIENA platform's effectiveness in exchanging information on environmental crimes between countries. The findings of this work can be applied in developing mechanisms for the prevention of transnational environmental crimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of terrorism is gaining scale and acquiring new forms, requiring the international community to develop new approaches to combating threats. The aim of the work is to assess the Lublin Triangle countries' counterterrorism activities and identify the potential problems associated with such activities. The research used the doctrinal approach, content analysis, and descriptive and comparative methods. The conducted research described such a format of international cooperation as the Lublin Triangle. Improving the defence capabilities of the countries within the alliance and countering terrorist threats from the Russian Federation is of particular importance because of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Both prospects and problems in the activities of the association were identified. The problematic aspects are related to the aggravation of relations between Ukraine and Poland. Coordinated work of countries in the field of combating disinformation was noted. Several recommendations provided by representatives of non-governmental organisations of the Lublin Triangle countries in this area are summarised. Potential directions for further development of relations between the studied countries were outlined. It was noted that cooperation will only be effective when resolving contradictions and establishing mutual respect and trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that the War in Ukraine is promoting and accelerating the Westernization of the region's higher education. The paper employs Mignolo's (2011) geopolitics of knowledge as the theoretical framework to illustrate how internationalization promotes the adoption of Western/English liberal education and how the War in Ukraine is speeding up the process. Using focus groups, I capture conversations with local graduate students in Kazakhstan to demonstrate that Western education is acquired to 1) accelerate the de-Russification of Kazakhstan by moving away from the former imperial power, 2) use English to undermine the Russian language and cement Kazakhstan's independence from Russia, 3) acquire internationally recognized English credentials for global/Western competitiveness and modernity. The participants in this study framed their decision to pursue university graduate studies as freedom from the Soviet system, de-Russification, and modern development, underscoring the high value that some graduate students have for an English credential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the full-scale war in Ukraine began in February 2022, many Ukrainians have migrated abroad. Canada, with its tradition of welcoming refugees and other displaced persons and its large Ukrainian community, has accepted thousands of Ukrainian migrants. After arriving in Canada, some decided to enroll in community colleges to improve their labormarket skills and to facilitate their transition to life in Canada. This empirical study draws on the psychological resilience theory and the social support theory to examine the challenges these students face, the coping mechanisms they use, and the support they receive from their colleges and Canadian society. The findings reveal that the participants experience stress, anxiety, helplessness, and isolation, owing to concerns about family members in Ukraine and difficulty adapting to a foreign environment. Financial worries also loom large because of their families' loss of property and income, as well as their limited job opportunities in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to present the position of the Visegrad Group countries towards the war in Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022 with the attack of the Russian Federation on this country. On the one hand, the aim is to show the motivation and actions of the authorities of the four Visegrad Group countries towards Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as the forms and types of assistance provided to Ukraine by each country separately. On the other hand, the aim is to answer the question: how did Hungary's different position affect cooperation within the Visegrad Group? What are the reasons for Hungary's different approach to the war in Ukraine and Russia's policy? It can be observed that the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia presented a pro-Ukrainian position in their actions towards the war in Ukraine, while Hungary, unlike the other Visegrad countries, presented a pro-Russian position, which caused a crisis in cooperation within the Visegrad Group. Slovakia's attitude changed to a more pro-Russian one after the Smer party, headed by Robert Fico, came to power at the end of 2023. Now we can observe the division of the Visegrad Group into two camps: Polish-Czech and Slovak-Hungarian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hungarian government has been utilising emergencies to expand its political power instead of upholding constitutionalism and the rule of law. This strategy has given the government almost unlimited power to enact emergency decrees, even when the state and the population are not in immediate danger. The ninth amendment to the Fundamental Law of Hungary has raised concerns about the government's use of emergency powers, granting the executive branch even more authority during exceptional times by allowing the government to prolong the 'state of exception' indefinitely and maintain pandemic-related emergency measures to respond to potential consequences of the war in Ukraine. As a result, the executive body has been able to exert significant political control without proper parliamentary oversight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine are extraordinary events causing excessive turbulence in financial markets. Considering the leptokurtic and heteroscedastic properties of returns on financial assets, we examine the suitability of several alternatives for modeling returns to choose the most suitable option to compute the VaR and CVaR for returns of three stock market indices as well as euro exchange rates in Czechia, Poland, and Hungary. Using an appropriate test, we evaluate how the two metrics of VaR and CVaR changed during the pandemic and the war in Ukraine up to June 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: The Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine had a significant impact on the Russian-speaking identity, reformulating existing linguistic and cultural boundaries and shaping Russian speakers' self-perception and vision of the world. We focus on families with children who are trying to balance their inner and outer life in order to stabilize the positive environment of the upbringing process and analyze how adults explain to the children the need to learn the Russian, Ukrainian and other languages. This can shed light on the challenges and strategies employed in alleviating prejudiced attitudes against immigrants' languages and cultures which can cause alienation from the roots in the one-and-a-half and second generation. The research questions were: How has the war altered language policies in families with different ethnic backgrounds? What changes in home language use strategies do parents propose? Material and methods: Material drawn from numerous posts of Facebook discussions have been analyzed with the help of thematic analysis. Results and discussion: We observe that in many multilingual families with Ukrainian roots the war has led to a greater emphasis on the Ukrainian language use as an attempt to reinforce ties to their cultural heritage and express support for the country. Russian is increasingly viewed as the language of the aggressor; moreover, Russian culture is devalued and rejected. Some families have become more open to new language learning, especially the languages of their new environment, and try to identify themselves as multicultural and multiethnic personalities. On the other hand, in those families where parents work or study in the fields in which Russian is widely used, adults prioritize the development of Russian language skills in their children in order to improve their future educational and professional opportunities. We explore attitudes and challenges faced by parents in Russian-speaking families, as they demonstrate the complexities of identity formation and language transmission while making salient the interplay between parents' personal experiences, their aspirations for their children's cultural identity, and the pressures of integration into the local society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the article is to compare ministerial discourses in terms of constructing the concept of environmental security and the significance of the environment itself in the situation of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Using speech act securitization analysis, statements issued by state offices from selected Central European countries were examined. The article analyzes ministerial statements published on the websites of six Ministries of the Environment: Ukrainian, Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian and Moldavian. The research covers the first five weeks of the war. Three types of entities have been considered in the analysis of archival materials: (1) those whose environmental security is at risk, (2) those that pose a threat, and (3) those that can restore this security. The analysis makes it possible to distinguish general types of entities, and thus to describe the similarities and differences between individual discourses, and present how the environment itself was perceived and how the construct of environmental safety was created in the context of other types of security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 shattered numerous assumptions about the drivers of Russian foreign policy, posing a fundamental challenge to the Russia studies community. Against this backdrop, the article centers on the imperative to reflect how we think and examine Russian foreign policy amid considerable transformations in the country's international as well as domestic realities. This contribution does so by reviewing and critically reassessing past accomplishments and shortcomings within the field of Russian foreign policy research, evaluating their pertinence in a post-2022 context. Focusing on the scholarly work done with regard to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the study demonstrates that the literature suffers from the inertial tendency of offering old answers to new questions, suggesting potential avenues for further scholarly work on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On February 24, 2022, we embarked on a war journey into the unknown, witnessing the war in Ukraine. Our contact with the war is mediated (mainly by the media), yet painful and saturated with extreme emotions. This article is an autoethnographic description of the experiences of this journey of three academics from Poland, a frontline country. The metaphor of the road is carried out by evocative autoethnography in terms of its symbolism of personal journey of each of us; nevertheless, it also unifies our experiences of war into one tender narrative. Embedded in the essence of our autoethnographic narrative of the war is a constant openness to new circumstances, the natural dynamics of action at the front and in the frontier country, and the constant search for and discovery of one's own narrative identity. Each part of this path traveled is inscribed in the baggage of personal experience, a narrative of life in a frontier country, unification by the situation of witnessing the war, and the desire to express our resistance to it. It became a form of mental resistance, analysis, empathy, and concern which were our methods of struggle and a way of taking responsibility for the reality we witness. In the description, we used the "tender narrative" proposed in the texts of Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has witnessed terrible destruction during the war with Russia. Many of its inhabitants have fallen victim to enemy shelling. Hundreds of objects and many urban areas turned into ruins. However, the destroyed private houses, high-rises, and even entire neighbourhoods in Kharkiv demonstrate that architecture lives even when it has been involuntarily abandoned, isn't used, and isn't experienced sensually, but is a part of complex systems of things, feelings, and communities. This work focuses on how damaged urban objects and places are being mourned, and how and where new ecological landscapes are being created. To answer these questions, the author went to the damaged places in Kharkiv (the city centre, residential areas, markets, memorials, and the subway) as a clean-up volunteer. Data collection was carried out from April to June 2022. The collected data are considered in the optics of posthumanism, with equal attention to the fragments of concrete, brick walls, broken glass, people and shell craters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article attempts to explain the Czech Republic's geopolitical vacillation between the West and East over the past three and half decades. We tie this behavior, where one orientation never prevails permanently, to the continuity of political elites from the communist to the post-communist periods. In addition to general relevance, we discuss its implications for the country's recent reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The focal points of this analysis are the geopolitical discourses and practices of three consecutive presidents: Václav Havel, Václav Klaus, and Miloš Zeman, each marking a decade in the Czech presidential office. We provide a historical-structural context to show that the Czech case has been an important example of a small state with its security continuously compromised by the hierarchical penetrations of great powers: Nazi Germany, the USSR/Russia, and most recently, China and the United States. Yet, as we demonstrate, the Czech Republic cannot be considered a stereotypical victim with mixed-sovereignty agreements being imposed on it. We present the three presidents in their active roles of geopolitical architects vis-à-vis the great powers as well as the Czech government. Heuristically, we conceptualize presidential foreign-and-security activities as performative geoprostitution. We show that for Havel, the primary act of geoprostitution was institutionalizing a civilizational client-patron relationship between a small state and a superpower (the United States). In contrast, not only was Klaus and Zeman's performative geoprostitution different due to its Eastern orientation, but it was motivated by their self-importance and desire to carve out political legacies and greased by corrupted business interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study asserts that the repatriation of foreign fighters from the conflict in Ukraine poses a significant threat to the peace and stability of the Southeast Europe within the realm of organized crime. It contends that Southeast Europe serves as fertile ground for foreign fighters during times of war crises, facilitating their exploitation by organized crime for illicit purposes. Regarding the context of the Southeast Europe, the study argues, firstly, that serious organized crime groups demonstrate a propensity to recruit individuals with military experience. Secondly, it underscores the historical roots of foreign fighter presence in the region, including the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Lastly, it highlights the inadequate response and policies at both national and European Union levels to address this concern in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate and understand the dynamics of citizen participation in social networks concerning the war in Ukraine and delve into the phenomenon of cyberactivism, this study focuses on the conversation generated in Spanish around the conflict on Twitter. The research analyses 1,138,747 original tweets to investigate the general characteristics of the conversation, the user interaction patterns, and the creation and structure of communities and to determine the connecting factors. The study employs machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques via the Graphext data analytics tool. The conversation volume is very high, but the network of interactions is characterized by being unstructured and dominated by white noise, with disjointed interactions setting the tone of the conversation. Verified accounts and emotionality stand out as factors of connection and interconnection in the network. This case study highlights a form of social and political participation oriented towards visibility and information about the cause at a level of deliberation and debate that shows empathy and sympathy in a context close to slacktivism.

The aim of the article is to analyse children’s books on war, written by Polish and Ukrainian authors, with special emphasis on the war in Ukraine. The starting point for the considerations is the methodology of children’s studies, which is a scientific discipline that places childhood as the subject of in-depth research. The interpretation used current data on psychological problems related to the youngest refugees from Ukraine. Children’s books by Polish authors published in the series Adult Wars – Children’s Stories about the war in Ukraine were analysed, and their indisputable therapeutic functions were indicated. Reading them individually or collectively brings relief to the traumas experienced by Ukrainian children who find themselves in exile in a new, unknown country. At the same time, it teaches compassion and creates empathy for those in need among the youngest Poles. Then, the works from the indicated series were compared with those written at the same time, i. e. from February 2022, by Ukrainian authors. It turned out that they did not take into account the psychological needs of Ukrainian children, promoting primarily patriotic content and focusing on providing knowledge about the homeland in a state of danger. The summary includes a postulate regarding the need to adapt the content and form of the message related to war in children’s literature to the audience of early school age, in such a way that its therapeutic function is fulfilled.