Video Archive

Watch the video recording of the Russian Policy and the War in Ukraine’s Donbas conference panels on this page.

Opening Remarks

Introduction:  David R. Marples (History and Classics) and Geoffrey Rockwell (KIAS Director)
Opening of Conference:  Steve Patten (Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Arts) and Matthias Ruth, Vice-President (Research)

Panel One: Ukraine and Donbas in Spring 2014

Moderator: Sevan Beukian (University of Alberta)

Speakers:

  • Serhy Yekelchyk (University of Victoria), “Conflicting Memories of World War II and the Current Conflict in Ukraine”
  • David Marples (University of Alberta), “Background to the Conflict in the Donbas: from Hughes to Akhmetov”
  • William J. Risch (Georgia College, USA), “Prelude to War? The Maidan and Its Discontents in the Donbas”

Panel Two: Analysis of the Conflict and its Results

Moderator: Volodymyr Kravchenko (University of Alberta)

Speakers:

  • Oksana Mikheieva (Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv), “Motivations of Combatants on Both Sides of the War on the Territory of Donbas Region”
  • Nataliia Stepaniuk (University of Ottawa), “Changing Modes of Citizenship: Civilian Volunteer Engagement in the Frontline Regions of Donbas, Ukraine”
  • Oleksander Melnyk (University of Alberta), “Casualties of the War and Inter-Communal Ethics in the Russian-Ukrainian Borderlands From the Start of the War Until Present”

Panel Three: Russia’s Role and Goals

Moderator: Heather Coleman (University of Alberta)

Speakers:

  • Kimitaka Matsuzato (University of Tokyo), “The First Four Years of the Donetsk People’s Republic: Differentiating Indigenous Elites and Surkov’s Political Technologists”
  • Tetyana Malyarenko (National University Odesa Law Academy, Ukraine), “The Logic of Competitive Influence-Seeking: Russia, Ukraine and the Conflict in Donbas”
  • Sergey Sukhankin (Jamestown Foundation, Washington DC; International Center for Policy Studies, Kyiv), “‘Continuing War by Other Means’: The Case of Wagner, Russia’s Premier Private Military Company”

Panel Four: Future of the Donbas; Canada’s Role

Moderator: Alla Hurska (University of Alberta)

Speakers:

  • Ernest Gyidel (University of Alberta), “From “See you in Donetsk!” to “I Will Never Return to Donetsk”: Ukrainian IDPs and the Future of Donbas”
  • Alina Cherviatsova (V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine), “Hybrid War and Hybrid Law: the Minsk Agreements in the Context of International Law and Ukrainian Legislation”
  • Serhiy Kudelia (Baylor University, USA), “How Can Political Science Findings on Civil War Settlements Inform Conflict Resolution in Donbas?”

Closing Remarks

Closing Remarks: David Marples (University of Alberta Department of History and Classics).