Russia's Continuing War in Ukraine: Identities in Times of War

Russia’s war in Ukraine has been ongoing for two unexpected years with no military or diplomatic solution in sight. In academic and public debates, the question has arisen to what extent Ukrainian society has adapted to the new reality and how the identities of people living in and close to the conflict zones have changed. The invited speakers will elaborate on how the media coverage and public discourse on the war have changed people’s identities in Ukraine and what this change means for the new East-West conflict.

Olena Zinenko, Senior Lecturer in the Media and Communications department of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University,
Mirko Kruppa, Head of Division on Domestic Public Diplomacy at the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin,
Carolina de Stefano, Adjunct Professor in Russian History and Politics at Luiss University, Rome, and
Susann Heinecke-Kuhn, Programme Director of the MAEIS Applied European Policy and Governance Studies (EUGOV), CIFE.

Opening remarks by Arnaud Leconte, Economist, Programme Director of the Joint Masters in Global Economic Governance and Public Affairs (GEGPA) and EU Trade and Climate Diplomacy (EUDIPLO), CIFE.
The debate will be moderated by Tatjana Kuhn, Scientific Associate in the GEGPA/EUDIPLO programmes and Programme Manager of the Overseas University Programmes at CIFE.
It will be followed by a Q&A session with the panelists.

Tuesday 20 February 2024
18.00 - 19.30 CET 
Hybrid Webinar: at CIFE Berlin and via Zoom
Attendance is free of charge, but registration is required. 

Olena Zinenko
Olena Zinenko is a journalist and researcher in the field of media studies. Her PhD examined the discourse around public events in the Ukrainian media. She has been Senior Lecturer in the Media and Communications department of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University since 2018. As a journalist, she has worked for various media in Ukraine (newspapers, radio, TV, online media). Since 24 February 2022, she has been involved in monitoring the discourse on the war in Ukraine online and in social media. The findings of this research have been presented in various publications, including reports aimed at advising state authorities and chief security officers on information and communication policies. In the Ukraine ResearchNetwork@ZOiS, she is working on a project about the mediatisation of the war in the discourse of popular culture.

Mirko Kruppa
Mirko Kruppa is Head of Division on Domestic Public Diplomacy at the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. He is an expert on the post-Soviet and Sino-cultural sphere. Previously, he held the position of Chairman of the Staff Council at the German Federal Foreign Office for two years. From 2017 until 2019 he was the Head of the Political Section at the European Union Delegation in Moscow. Earlier, he had been posted to Almaty (Kazakhstan), Chengdu (China), Taipei (Taiwan, R.O.C.) and Pretoria (South Africa). He has held positions at the Federal Foreign Office since 2001, covering Russia, Central Asia, China/Taiwan, Ukraine and Belarus, where he worked both on political dossiers and project work.

Carolina de Stefano
Carolina de Stefano is a researcher and adjunct professor in Russian History and Politics at Luiss University and an Associate at EHESS in Paris and the Higher School of Economics in Saint Petersburg. Her research focuses on Russia's contemporary history, politics and ethnic politics. She is currently working on a monograph on Moscow's management of interethnic conflicts and tensions in the years of collapse of the Soviet Union. Her recent publications appeared in the Russian Review and the Journal of Eurasian Studies.

Susann Heinecke-Kuhn
Susann Heinecke-Kuhn is a Senior Research Fellow at CIFE and Director of CIFE's MAEIS Applied European Policy and Governance Studies. She previously coordinated a PhD Support Programme for doctoral students from Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus (EUCACIS), as well as the Horizon2020 project SEnECA. Her doctoral thesis focused on German policy towards Russia. Susann was consultant for the CIS countries at the State Chancellery of Brandenburg in 2007-2009. From 2003 to 2007, she held a scholarship from the Robert Bosch Foundation and taught at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, the Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Free Russian-German Institute of Journalism in Moscow, as well as at the School of International Relations of the St. Petersburg State University.