«Neither with Europe nor With Russia»: Tracking Views in Kharkiv

Abstract

Traditional dividing Ukraine into West and East fails to take into account that each region, particularly in east Ukraine, is highly heterogeneous, with differences among rural and urban areas and diverse residents. While legacies of European empire influence the coherence of popular attitudes in the west over time, it is less clear how the many historical legacies of pre-Soviet and Soviet rule shape the wide diversity of opinions across central, southern, and eastern Ukraine—i.e. across the majority of the country. Nor can such explanations make sense of the wide diversity of attitudes within individual Ukrainian regions. This paper represents a step in this direction by identifying and analyzing popular attitudes within one region in eastern Ukraine: Kharkiv. The research involves several methods: secondary data-analysis from sociological surveys conducted by Kiev International Institute of Sociology (a survey from spring 2014); cyber-ethnography and textual analysis – examination of the social media discussions from the same period. While the research presented in this paper is somewhat preliminary, our analysis clearly demonstrates that the residents of Kharkiv region display vert diverse opinions and attitudes. Kharkiv does not fit simple stereotypes as a pro-Russian region. In winter and spring 2014, Kharkiv witnessed major demonstrations both for and against Maidan, and the city was home to extremely committed activists on opposite sides of the political spectrum. What is less well-known is that at the height of the crisis in 2014, a majority of Kharkovites opposed separatism and joining Russia. Perhaps most interestingly, these opinions co-existed with a current of strong opposition to Maidan among a significant segment of the population, as well as support for Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Thus, anti-Maidan attitudes should not be simply equated with a pro-Russia position. More research is required into understanding the character of opposition to Maidan and how these attitudes bear upon relations with Kyiv, Europe and Russia. It is apparent that residents of the region shared strong opposition to the corruption of the Yanukovych regime and a high concern with economic issues. The population’s strong support for decentralization suggests that residents were (and are) prepared to address these issues by obtaining increased representation in political institutions and taking increased control over local politics. In addition, there was, and continues to be a significant part of the population in Kharkiv that opposes integration with the EU. There is also strong support in the region for EU membership. But the data and the statements revealed in our analysis of social media suggest, once again, that opposition to the EU does not necessarily entail support for Russia. Loyalty to Ukraine as an independent state, beholden to neither Europe nor Russia seems to resonate with large numbers of Kharkovites; instead, growing numbers of citizens do not want to make a choice between Russia and the EU – an issue that deserves more research.