The Ukrainian Crisis, Violence in the East, and its effect on Ukrainian Internally Displaced People and Refugees.

The mission of the present study was to explore the social and cultural effect the refugees and internally displaced people are having on Ukraine. The number of internally displaced people (IDP) increases as violence in the Eastern region of the country continues. IDPs, similar to refugees, flee because of persecution, violence, or war, yet remain in the nation. Through personal interviews of three Ukrainian citizens living in the West and East, the study gains an accurate and a full perspective of the Ukrainian socio-cultural changes and a detailed understanding of the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine. During the interviews, interviewees demonstrated how their lives and surrounding communities have transformed drastically in recent years since the conflict began in 2014. As IDPs spill into the West, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local churches provide aid, shelter, educational grants, and recovery programs focusing on psychological traumas of individuals and military personnel. Through the interviews, IDPs and Ukrainian civilians exposed the negative reality of the conflict from the perspective of the Eastern border and Western cities as the socio-cultural dynamics continue to change within the nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]