Demarcation Line on Donbas: the Border Between Own and Others'?

Abstract

The article examines the territorial changes caused by the war in the East of Ukraine and their perception by the population of the conflict zone. The military conflict is defined as «frozen». It is shown that the war fragmented the social space of society. The new element of reality – the demarcation line (the attribute of all «frozen conflicts») between the territories of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions controlled and not controlled by the government. Now it function as the state border. It is limiting the fields of institutional influence of Ukraine and the LNR/DNR and Russian Federation. This is a new structure of life practices. Based on the results of the research in the Lugansk region, it is shown that the line of demarcation cut the living space of the inhabitants of the region. It divide the spaces with which the person connects his perspectives (perspective space, Homeland), space in which he realizes and ensures his existence, earns (institutional space) and space, were he lives (everyday life space). The line of demarcation is not perceived by the inhabitants of the region as a border separating their own and others'. This is a temporary barrier between their own. The inhabitants of the region percept themselves as one community, hoping for a peaceful resolution of the conflict and unification of the territories. It is shown that the policy of Ukraine regarding quasi-state entities (LDP/DPR) does not differ from the policy of other metropolitan countries in «frozen conflicts». Isolation of uncontrolled territories, postponement of the decision can in the future only complicate the search for a compromise, and propaganda on both sides will only deepen the split.